^ 


*1 


among  the 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


Xo\>e  among  tbe  Xions 


By  F.  ANSTEY. 

Love  Among  the  Lions.     Illustrated. 

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ilctor  Smong  t\)t  iltons 


A  MATRIMO- 
NIAL EXPERI- 
ENCE, BY  F. 
ANSTEY,  AU- 
THOR OF  "VICE 
VERSA,"    ETC. 


yp 


I 


Bcto  gorfc 

2D,  #pplcton   anD   Company 

1899 


i 


i     • 


■ 


Authorized  Edition. 


/  "P  K 


List   of   Illustrations 


PAUE 


The  exquisite  face  looking  out  over  the  wire  bliud  .       4 

iEneas  Polkinghorne 7 

Still  I  persevered 9 

The  introduction  of  Mr.  Blenkinsop  to  Miss  Lurana 

de  Castro 12 

"  And  whom  should  I  marry,  Mr.  Blenkinsop  ?"  .  18 
"  Let  us  be  married  in  the  Lions'  Cage  "  .  .26 
"  Yes,  papa,  we  are  a  little  late  "  .  .  .  .31 
"First-rate  idea  of  yours,  Blenkinsop"  .  .  .  33 
"  Well,  if  the  lady's  as  game  as  she  seems,  and  the 

gentleman  likewise,  I  don't  see  any  objection  "  .     41 
We  were  still  chatting  when  Lurana  returned        .     43 
A  cleric  of  the  broad-minded  school        .        .        .51 
"  If  you  go  on  like  that  I  shall  begin  to  think  you 

want  to  frighten  me" 55 

Mademoiselle 61 


1982. 


VI 


List  of  Illustrations 


"ADe  Castro  can  never  marry  a  Craven  "    . 

"  If  them  two  got  together,  there'd  be  the  doose's 

delight" 

I  was  forlornly  mopping  when  Niono  returned 
My  wedding  toilette  was  complete 

"  It's  a  swindle  " 

A  kind  of  small  procession  entered  the  arena 

Then  he  addressed  the  audience     . 

"  If  only  you  had  been  firmer,  Theodore  "     . 


PAGE 

71 


77 
80 
85 
89 
93 
99 
109 


LOVE   AMONG  THE   LIONS 


PART  I 

In  the  following  pages  will  be  found  the 
only  authentic  account  of  an  affair  which  pro- 
vided London,  and  indeed  all  England,  with 
material  for  speculation  and  excitement  for 
a  period  of  at  least  nine  days. 

So  many  inaccurate  versions  have  been 
circulated,  so  many  ill-natured  and  unjust 
aspersions  have  been  freely  cast,  that  it  seemed 
advisable  for  the  sake  of  those  principally  con- 
cerned to  make  a  plain  unvarnished  statement 
of  the  actual  facts.  And  when  I  mention  that 
I  who  write  this  am  the  Theodore  Blenkinsop 
whose  name  was,  not  long  since,  as  familiar  in 
the  public  mouth  as  household  words,  I  ven- 
ture to  think  that  I  shall  at  once  recall  the 

1 


i  Love  among  the  Lions 

matter  to  the  shortest  memory,  and  establish 
my  right  to  speak  with  authority  on  the  sub- 
ject. 

At  the  time  I  refer  to  I  was — and  for 
the  matter  of  that  still  am — employed  at  a 
lucrative  salary  as  taster  to  a  well-known  firm 
of  tea-merchants  in  the  City.  I  occupied  fur- 
nished apartments,  a  sitting-room  and  bed- 
room, over  a  dairy  establishment  in  Tadmor 
Terrace,  near  Baalbec  Road,  in  the  pleasant 
and  salubrious  district  of  Highbury. 

Arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  I  was 
still  a  bachelor  and  had  felt  no  serious  inclina- 
tion to  change  my  condition  until  the  memor- 
able afternoon  on  which  the  universe  became 
transformed  for  me  in  the  course  of  a  quiet 
stroll  round  Canonbury  Square. 

For  the  information  of  those  who  may  be 
unacquainted  with  it,  I  may  state  that  Canon- 
bury  Square  is  in  Islington;  the  houses, 
"though  undeniably  dingy  as  to  their  exteriors, 
are  highly  respectable,  and  mostly  tenanted 
by  members  of  the  medical,  musical,  or  scho- 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  3 

lastic  professions;  some  have  balconies  and 
verandahs  which  make  it  difficult  to  believe 
that  one  has  not  met  them,  like  their  occu- 
piers, at  some  watering  place  in  the  sum- 
mer. 

The  square  is  divided  into  two  by  a  road 
on  which  frequent  tramcars  run  to  the  City, 
and  the  two  central  enclosures  are  neatly  laid 
out  with  gravelled  paths  and  garden  seats;  in 
the  one  there  is  a  dovecot,  in  the  other  there 
are  large  terra-cotta  oil- jars,  bringing  recollec- 
tions of  the  Arabian  Nights  and  the  devoted 
Morgiana. 

All  this,  I  know,  is  not  strictly  to  the  point, 
but  I  am  anxious  to  make  it  clear  that  the 
locality,  though  not  perhaps  a  chosen  haunt 
of  Rank  and  Fashion,  possesses  compensations 
of  its  own. 

Strolling  round  Canonbury  Square,  then, 
I  happened  to  glance  at  a  certain  ground  floor 
window  in  which  an  art-pot,  in  the  form  of  a 
chipped  egg  hanging  in  gilded  chains  and 
enamelled  shrimp-pink,  gave  a  note  of  femi- 


4 


Love  among  the  Lions 


ninity  that  softened  the  dusty  severity  of  a 
wire  blind. 

Under  the  chipped  egg,  and  above  the 
top  of  the  blind,  gazing  out  with  an  air  of  list- 
less disdain  and  utter  weariness,  was  a  lovely 
vivid  face,  which,  with  its  hint  of  pent-up  pas- 
sion and  tropical  lan- 
guor, I  mentally  lik- 
ened to  a  pomegran- 
ate flower;  not  that  I 
have  ever  seen  a 
pomegranate  flower, 
though  I  am  more  fa- 
miliar with  the  fruit 
— which,  to  my  pal- 
ate, has  too  much  the 
flavour  of  fire-wood 
to  be  wholly  agree- 
able— but  somehow 
it  seemed  the  only  appropriate  comparison. 

xVfter  that,  few  days  passed  on  which  I 
did  not  saunter  at  least  once  round  the  square, 
and  several  times  I  was  rewarded  by  the  sight 


&}TtW 


The  exquisite  face  looking  out 
over  the  wire  blind. 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  5 

of  that  same  exquisite  face,  looking  out  over 
the  wire  blind,  always  with  the  same  look  of 
intense  boredom  and  haughty  resentment  of 
her  surroundings — a  kind  of  modern  Mariana, 
with  an  area  to  represent  the  moat. 

I  was  hoj)elessly  in  love  from  the  very 
first;  I  thought  of  nothing  but  how  to  ob- 
tain admission  to  her  presence;  as  time  went 
on,  I  fancied  that  when  I  passed  there  was 
a  gleam  of  recognition,  of  half-awakened  in- 
terest in  her  long-lashed  eyes,  but  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  be  certain.  On  the  railing  by  the 
door  was  a  large  brass  plate,  on  which  was 
engraved :  "  iEneas  Polkinghorne,  Professor 
of  Elocution.  Prospectus  within."  So  I 
knew  the  name  of  my  divinity.  I  can  give 
no  greater  indication  of  the  extent  of  my  pas- 
sion, even  at  this  stage,  than  by  saying  that 
I  found  this  surname  musical,  and  lingered 
over  each  syllable  with  delight. 

But  that  brought  me  no  nearer  to  her, 
and  at  last  a  plan  occurred  to  me  by  which 
the  abyss  of  the  area  that  separated  us  might 


6  Love  among  the   Lions 

possibly  be  bridged  over.  Nothing  could  be 
simpler  than  my  device — and  yet  there  was 
an  audacity  about  it  that  rather  startled  me 
at  first.  It  was  this :  the  brass  plate  said  "  Pro- 
spectus within."  Very  well,  all  I  had  to  do 
was  to  knock  boldly  and  ask  for  one,  which, 
after  some  natural  hesitation,  I  did. 

Any  wild  hope  of  obtaining  an  interview 
with  Miss  Polkinghorne  was  doomed  to  in- 
stant disappointment.  I  was  received  by  the 
Professor  himself,  a  tall,  stout,  flabby  person, 
with  sandy  hair  combed  back  over  his  brow 
and  worn  long  behind,  who  showed  a  most 
sympathetic  interest  in  me,  inquiring  whether 
I  wished  to  be  prepared  for  the  Church,  the 
Stage,  or  the  Bar,  or  whether  I  had  any  idea 
of  entering  Parliament.  I  fear  I  allowed  him 
to  suppose  the  latter,  although  I  am  about  as 
likely  to  get  into  Parliament  as  into  an  im- 
perial pint  measure;  but  I  had  to  say  some- 
thing to  account  for  my  visit,  and  the  tea-trade 
does  not  call  for  much  in  the  way  of  ora- 
torical skill  from  its  votaries. 


•fe-'l.^ 


iEneas  Polkinghorne. 


8  Love  among  the  Lions 

Our  interview  was  brief,  but  I  came  away, 
not  only  with  a  prospectus,  but  with  tickets, 
for  which  I  paid  cash,  entitling  me  to  a  course 
of  six  lessons  in  elocution. 

This  was  rather  more  than  I  had  calculated 
upon — but,  at  least,  it  gave  me  the  entree  to 
the  house,  and  it  might  lead  to  something 
more. 

It  did  not  seem  as  if  it  was  going  to  lead 
to  much;  the  Professor's  method  of  teaching 
was  peculiar:  he  would  post  me  in  a  study  at 
the  back  of  the  house,  where  I  was  instructed 
to  declaim  some  celebrated  oration  at  the  top 
of  my  voice  while  he  retired  upstairs  to  dis- 
cover how  far  my  voice  would  carry. 

After  twenty  minutes  or  so  he  would  re- 
turn with  the  information,  which  I  have  no 
reason  to  disbelieve,  that  he  had  not  heard  a 
single  word  above  the  first  landing. 

Still  I  persevered,  sustained  by  the 
thought  that,  when  I  was  delivering  the  ora- 
tion of  Brutus  over  Caesar,  or  the  famous  pas- 
sage about  the  Queen  of  France  and  the  "  ten 


A   Matrimonial   Experience 


thousand  swords  leaping  from  their  scab- 
bards," my  words  might  perchance  reach  Miss 
Polkinghorne's  ear  and  excite  in  her  a  pass- 
ing emotion. 

But  I  came  to  the 
end  of  my  tickets  and 
still  I  was  as  far  as  ever 
from  my  goal,  while 
the  exertion  of  shouting 
had  rendered  me  pain- 
fully husky. 

Yet  I  would  not 
give  in;  I  set  myself  to 
gain  the  Professor's 
good  opinion;  I  took 
more  tickets.  It  was 
not  till  after  I  had  run 
through  these  that  I  as- 
certained, by  an  appar- 
ently careless   inquiry, 

that  there  was  no  such  person  as  Miss  Polking- 
horne — the  Professor  was  a  widower  and  had 
never  had  a  daughter! 


Still  I  persevered. 


io  Love  among  the  Lions 

The  thought  that  I  had  wasted  so  much 
time  and  money  for  nothing  was  bitter  at  first, 
and  I  very  nearly  decided  to  discontinue  my 
studies  there  and  then.  But  I  conquered  my 
feelings.  Though  the  Professor  was  no  rela- 
tion to  this  young  lady,  he  must  know  her 
name,  he  must  be  able  to  give  me  some  in- 
formation about  her;  a  little  judicious  pump- 
ing might  render  him  communicative. 

"  My  dear  Sir,"  he  said,  after  I  had  been 
beating  about  the  bush  for  some  time  with 
cautious  delicacy,  "  I  think  I  understand. 
You  are  anxious  to  make  this  young  lady's 
acquaintance  with  a  view  of  paying  your  ad- 
dresses to  her?     Is  not  that  so? ': 

I  confessed  that  he  had  managed  to  pene- 
trate my  motives,  though  I  could  not  imagine 
how. 

"  You  will  not  be  the  first  who  has  sought 
to  win  Lurana's  affections,"  he  said;  "more 
than  one  of  my  pupils — but  the  child  is  am- 
bitious, difficult  to  please.  Unfortunately, 
this  is  your  final  lesson — otherwise  I  might, 


A  Matrimonial   Experience  1 1 

after  preparing  the  ground,  so  to  say,  have  pre- 
sented you  to  her,  and  I  daresay  she  would 
have  been  pleased  to  give  you  a  cup  of  tea  occa- 
sionally after  your  labours.  Indeed,  as  Miss 
Lurana  de  Castro's  stepfather,  I  can  answer 
for  that — however,  since  our  acquaintance  un- 
happily ceases  here— — -" 

It  did  not  cease  there;  I  took  another  dozen 
tickets  at  once,  and  if  even  Polkinghorne  had 
sounded  sweetly  to  my  enamoured  ear,  you 
may  conceive  what  enchanting  melody  lay  in 
a  name  so  romantic  and  so  euphonious  as 
Lurana  de  Castro. 

The  Professor  was  as  good  as  his  word;  at 
the  end  of  the  very  next  lesson  I  was  invited 
to  follow  him  to  the  drawing-room,  where  I 
found  the  owner  of  the  brilliant  face  that  had 
so  possessed  me  seated  at  her  tea-table. 

She  gave  me  a  cup  of  tea,  and  I  can  pay 
her  witchery  no  higher  compliment  when  I 
state  that  it  seemed  to  me  as  nectar,  even 
though  my  trained  palate  detected  in  it  an  in- 
artistic and  incongruous  blend  of  broken  teas, 


12 


Love  among  the  Lions 


utterly  without  either  style  or  quality.     I  am 
not  sure  that  I  did  not  ask  for  another. 

She  was  astonishingly  lovely;  her  Spanish 
descent  was  apparent  in  her  magnificent  black 


The  Introduction  of  Mr.  Blenkinsop  to  Miss  Lurana  de  Castro. 

tresses,  lustrous  eyes,  and  oval  face  of  olive 
tinted  with  richest  carmine.  As  I  afterwards 
learnt,  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  Spanish  Gov- 
ernment official  of  an  ancient  Castilian  fam- 
ily, who  had  left  his  widow  in  such  straitened 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  13 

circumstances  that  she  was  compelled  to  sup- 
port herself  by  exhibiting  performing  mice 
and  canaries  at  juvenile  parties,  until  she  met 
and  married  the  Professor,  who  at  that  time 
was  delivering  recitations  illustrated  by  an 
oxy-hydrogen  lantern. 

The  second  marriage  had  not  been  alto- 
gether a  success,  and,  now  that  the  Professor 
was  a  widower,  I  fancy  that  his  relations  with 
his  imperious  stepdaughter  were  not  invari- 
ably of  the  most  cordial  nature,  and  that  he 
would  have  been  grateful  to  any  one  who  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  her  hand  and  freeing  him 
from  her  sway. 

I  did  not  know  that  then,  however,  though 
I  was  struck  by  the  deferential  politeness  of 
his  manner  towards  her,  and  the  alacrity  with 
which,  after  he  had  refreshed  himself,  he 
shuffled  out  of  the  room,  leaving  Lurana  to 
entertain  me  single-handed. 

That  first  evening  with  her  was  not  un- 
mixed joy.  I  had  the  consciousness  of  being 
on  trial.     I  knew  that  many  had  been  tried 


14  Love  among  the  Lions 

and  found  wanting  before  rne.  Lurana's  atti- 
tude was  languid,  indifferent,  almost  disdain- 
ful, and  when  I  went  away  I  had  a  forlorn 
conviction  that  I  should  never  again  be  asked 
to  tea  with  her,  and  that  the  last  series  of 
tickets  represented  money  absolutely  thrown 
away ! 

And  yet  I  was  asked  again — not  only  once, 
but  many  times,  which  was  favourable  as  far 
as  it  went,  for  I  felt  tolerably  certain  that  the 
Professor  would  never  have  ventured  to  bring 
me  a  second  time  into  his  daughter's  presence, 
unless  he  had  been  distinctly  given  to  under- 
stand that  my  society  was  very  far  from  dis- 
tasteful to  her. 

As  I  grew  to  know  her  better,  I  learnt  the 
secret  of  her  listlessness  and  discontent  with 
life.  She  was  tormented  by  the  unbounded 
ambitions  and  the  distinct  limitations  which 
embitter  existence  for  so  many  young  girls  of 
our  day. 

The  admiration  which  her  beauty  excited 
gave  her  little  satisfaction;  such  social  success 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  15 

as  Highbury  or  Canonbury  could  offer  left 
her  cold  and  unmoved.  She  was  pining  for 
some  distinction  which  should  travel  beyond 
her  own  narrow  little  world,  and  there  did  not 
seem  to  be  any  obvious  way  of  attaining  it. 
She  would  not  have  minded  being  a  popular 
author  or  artist — only  she  could  find  nothing 
worth  writing  about,  and  she  did  not  know 
how  to  draw;  she  would  have  loved  to  be  a 
great  actress — but  unfortunately  she  had 
never  been  able  to  commit  the  shortest  part  to 
memory,  and  the  pride  of  a  de  Castro  forbade 
her  to  accept  anything  but.  leading  roles. 

No  wonder  that  she  was  devoured  by  dul- 
ness,  or  that  there  were  moments  when  she 
beat  her  pinions  like  some  captive  wild  bird 
against  the  cage  of  her  own  incompetence. 
Even  I,  although  fairly  content  with  my  lot, 
would  sometimes  flap  my  own  wings,  so  to 
speak,  from  sheer  sympathy. 

"It's  maddening  to  be  a  nobody!"  she 
would  declare,  as  she  threw  herself  petulantly 
back  in  her  chair,  with  her  arms  raised  behind 


1 6  Love  among  the  Lions 

her  and  her  interlaced  fingers  forming  a  charm- 
ing cradle  for  her  head — a  favourite  attitude 
of  hers.  "  It  does  seem  so  stupid  not  to  be 
celebrated  when  almost  everybody  is!  And 
to  think  that  I  have  a  friend  like  Ruth  Rake- 
straw,  who  knows  ever  so  many  editors  and 
people,  and  could  make  me  famous  with  a 
few  strokes  of  the  pen — if  only  I  did  some- 
thing to  give  her  the  chance.  But  I  never 
do!" 

Miss  Rakestraw,  I  should  explain,  was  an 
enterprising  young  lady  journalist,  who  con- 
tributed society  news  and  "  on  dits  "  to  the 
leading  Islington  and  Holloway  journals,  and 
was  understood  to  have  had  "  leaderettes  "  and 
"  turnovers  "  accepted  by  periodicals  of  even 
greater  importance. 

"  If  only,"  Lurana  burst  out  on  one  of 
these  occasions,  "  if  only  I  could  do  something 
once  which  would  get  my  name  into  all  the 
papers,  set  everybody  thinking  of  me,  talking 
of  me,  staring  after  me  wherever  I  went,  make 
editors  write  for  my  photograph,  and  inter- 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  17 

viewers  beg  for  my  biography,  I  think  I  should 
be  content." 

I  made  the  remark,  which  was  true  but 
not  perhaps  startling  in  its  originality,  that 
fame  of  this  kind  was  apt  to  be  of  brief  dura- 
tion. 

"What  should  I  care?"  she  cried;  "I 
should  have  had  it.  I  could  keep  the 
cuttings;  they  would  always  be  there  to 
remind  me  that  once  at  least — but  what's 
the  use  of  talking?  I  shall  never  see 
my  name  in  all  the  papers.  I  know  I 
sha'n't." 

"  There  is  a  way!  "  I  ventured  to  observe; 
"  you  might  have  your  name  in  all  the  papers, 
if  you  married." 

"As  if  I  meant  that!"  she  said,  with  a 
deliciously  contemptuous  pout.  "  And  whom 
should  I  marry,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Blenkin- 
sop? " 

"You  might  marry  me!'  I  suggested 
humbly. 

"  You!  "  she  retorted.     "  How  would  that 


i8 


Love  among  the  Lions 


make  me  a  celebrity.     You  are  not  even  one 
yourself." 

"  I  do  not  care  to  boast,"  I  said,  "  but  it 
is  the  simple  fact  that  nobody  iu  the  entire 
tea-trade  has  a  j^alate  approaching  mine  for 


T..„^ 


"  And  whom  should  I  marry,  Mr.  Blenkinsop  ?" 

keenness   and   delicacy.     Ask   any   one   and 
they  will  tell  you  the  same." 

"  You  may  be  the  best  tea-taster  in  the 
world,"  she  said,  "  but  the  purity  of  your  pal- 
ate will  never  gain  you  a  paragraph  in  a  single 
society  paper.  And  even  if  it  did,  what 
should  1  gain?  At  the  best  a  reflected  glory. 
I  want  to  be  a  somebody  myself!  ' 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  19 

"  What's  the  use  of  trying  to  make  our- 
selves what  we  are  not?"  I  broke  out.  "If 
Fate  has  made  us  wooden  nine-pins  in  the 
world's  nursery,  we  may  batter  our  head 
against  the  walls  as  much  as  we  like — but  we 
can  never  batter  it  into  a  profile!  ' 

I  thought  this  rather  neatly  put  myself, 
but  it  did  not  appeal  to  Miss  de  Castro,  who 
retorted  with  some  asperity  that  I  was  the  best 
judge  of  the  material  of  my  own  head,  but 
hers,  at  least,  was  not  wooden,  while  she  had 
hitherto  been  under  the  impression  that  it  al- 
ready possessed  a  profile — such  as  it  was. 

She  could  not  be  brought  to  understand 
that  I  was  merely  employing  a  metaphor,  and 
for  the  remainder  of  the  evening  her  de- 
meanour was  so  crushingly  chilling,  that  I 
left  in  the  lowest  spirits,  persuaded  that  my 
unlucky  tongue  had  estranged  me  from  Lu- 
rana  for  ever. 

For  some  time  I  avoided  Canonbury 
Square  altogether,  for  I  felt  unequal  to  fac- 
ing an  elocution  lesson  unrecompensed  by  tea 
4 


20  Love  among  the   Lions 

with  Miss  de  Castro,  and  the  half-hour  or  more 
of  delightful  solitude  a  deux  which  followed 
the  meal — for  it  had  never  occurred  to  the 
Professor  to  provide  his  stepdaughter  with  a 
chaperon. 

At  last,  when  on  the  verge  of  despair,  hope 
returned  in  the  form  of  a  little  note  from 
Lurana,  asking  whether  I  was  dead,  and  invit- 
ing me,  if  still  in  existence,  to  join  a  small 
party  to  visit  the  World's  Fair  at  the  Agricul- 
tural Hall  the  next  evening,  and  return  to  sup- 
per afterwards  at  Canonbury  Square,  an  in- 
vitation which,  need  I  say,  I  joyfully  accepted. 

We  were  only  four;  Miss  Rakestraw  and 
her  fiance,  a  smart  young  solicitor's  clerk,  of 
the  name  of  Archibald  Chuck,  whose  em- 
ployer had  lately  presented  him  with  his  ar- 
ticles; myself,  and  Lurana.  The  Professor 
was  unable  to  accompany  us,  having  an  en- 
gagement to  read  "  Hiawatha  "  to  a  Young 
Men's  Mutual  Improvement  Society  that 
evening. 

Part  of  the  hall  was  taken  up  by  various 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  i\ 

side-shows,  shooting-galleries,  and  steam  mer- 
ry-go-rounds, which  produced  a  discordant 
and  deafening  din  until  a  certain  hour  of  the 
evening,  when  the  noises  subsided,  and 
Wooker  and  Sawkins'  World-renowned  Circus 
gave  a  performance  in  the  arena,  which  occu- 
pied the  centre. 

Miss  Rakestraw's  connection  with  the 
Press  procured  us  free  passes  to  the  re- 
served seats  close  to  the  ring;  my  chair  was 
next  toLurana's,  and  she  was  graciously  pleased 
to  ignore  our  recent  difference.  The  enter- 
tainment was  of  the  usual  variety,  I  suppose; 
but,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  was  so  absorbed  in  the 
bliss  of  being  once  more  by  her  side  and  watch- 
ing her  face,  which  looked  more  dazzling  than 
ever  through  the  delicate  meshes  of  her  veil, 
that  I  have  the  vaguest  recollection  of  the 
earlier  items  of  the  programme. 

But  towards  the  close  there  came  a  per- 
formance which  I  have  good  reason  to  re- 
member. 

An  enormous  elephant  entered  the  circle, 


11  Love  among  the  Lions 

drawing  a  trolley,  upon  which  was  an  iron 
cage  containing  forest-bred  African  lions. 
After  the  electric  globes  had  been  lowered,  so 
as  to  illuminate  the  interior,  "  Niono,  the  Lion 
King,"  a  dapper,  well-made  man,  of  very 
much  my  own  height  and  figure,  so  far  as  I 
could  judge,  went  into  the  cage  and  put  the 
animals  through  various  exercises.  Niono  was 
succeeded  by  Mile.  Leonie,  the  "  Circe  of  the 
Carnivora,"  a  pretty  Frenchwoman,  who,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  surpassed  him  in  coolness  and 
daring.  There  was  nothing  disagreeably  sen- 
sational about  the  exhibition;  all  the  animals 
were  evidently  under  perfect  control;  the 
huge,  black-maned  lions  leaped  through  paper 
hoops  and  blazing  circles  without  the  slightest 
loss  of  either  temper  or  dignity;  the  fe- 
males followed  obediently.  Only  one  lioness 
showed  any  disposition  to  be  offensive,  and 
she  did  not  venture  to  go  beyond  yawning 
ostentatiously  whenever  Mile.  Leonie's  eye 
was  upon  her. 

Altogether  it  was,  as  I  remarked  to  Lurana 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  23 

at  the  time,  a  wonderful  instance  of  the  natu- 
ral dominion  of  man  over  the  animal  world. 
She  enthusiastically  commended  the  symmetry 
of  Mr.  Niono's  figure,  which  did  not  strike 
me  as  so  very  much  above  the  average;  and 
to  pique  her,  I  expressed  equal  admiration  for 
Mile.  Leonie,  and  was  gratified  to  observe  un- 
mistakable signs  of  jealousy  on  Lurana's  part. 
But  we  were  both  agreed  that  the  profession 
of  lion-taming  looked  more  dangerous  than  it 
actually  was,  and  Archibald  Chuck  mentioned 
that  some  townsman  in  the  provinces  had,  for 
a  very  trifling  wager,  entered  a  den  of  lions  in 
a  travelling  menagerie  with  perfect  impunity. 
Miss  Rakestraw  capped  this  by  a  case  from 
America,  in  which  a  young  couple  had  actu- 
ally chosen  a  lion's  cage  to  be  married  in, 
though  she  admitted  that  the  story  was  pos- 
sibly a  fabrication. 

I  walked  back  with  Lurana  alone,  as  we 
somehow  lost  sight  of  Mr.  Chuck  and  his 
fiancee  in  the  crush  going  out,  and  on  the  way 
home  I  could  not  refrain  from  pleading  my 


24  Love  among  the  Lions 

cause  once  more.  I  told  her  how  I  had  loved 
her  at  first  sight,  and  how  many  elocution  les- 
sons I  had  endured  for  her  sake ;  I  pointed  out 
that  I  was  already  receiving  a  salary  sufficient 
to  maintain  a  wife  in  comfort,  if  not  luxury; 
and  that  her  married  life  could  hardly  be 
more  monotonous  and  uncongenial  than  her 
present  existence. 

She  listened  attentively,  as  if  moved. 
Presently  she  said,  "  Theodore,  I  will  be  per- 
fectly frank.  I  do  like  you ;  I  believe  I  could 
even  love  you.  But  I  have  Spanish  blood  in 
my  veins.  I  could  never  be  satisfied  with  a 
humdrum  conventional  marriage." 

I  was  inexpressibly  shocked.  I  had  no 
idea  that  her  views  were  so  emancipated. 

"  Lurana,"  T  said,  "  believe  me,  never  mind 
what  the  lady  novelists  say  against  marriage; 
it  may  have  its  disadvantages,  but,  after  all, 
as  society  is  constituted " 

"  You  don't  understand,"  she  said.  "  I 
am  not  opposed  to  marriage — with  a  man  who 
is  willing  to  make  some  concession,  some  slight 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  25 

sacrifice,  to  gratify  me.  But  are  you  that 
kind  of  man,  Theodore,  I  wonder? ': 

I  saw  that  she  was  already  beginning  to 
yield.  "  I  would  do  anything — anything  in 
the  world  you  bid  me,"  I  cried,  "  if  only  you 
will  be  my  wife,  Lurana." 

"  I  should  ask  you  to  do  nothing  that  I 
am  not  perfectly  prepared  to  do  myself,"  she 
said.  "  A  temporary  inconvenience,  a  risk 
which  is  the  merest  trifle.  Still,  you  may 
think  it  too  much,  Theodore." 

"  jSTame  it,"  I  replied.  "  The  opportuni- 
ties which  the  tea  trade  affords  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  heroism  are  rare;  but  there  are  few 
risks  that  I  would  shrink  from  running  with 
you." 

"  It  is  only  this,"  she  said.  "  I  don't  want 
a  commonplace  wedding.  I  want  one  that 
will  be  talked  about  and  make  a  sensation. 
Will  you  let  me  be  married  in  my  own  way?  " 

I  was  rather  relieved  by  what  seemed  so 
moderate  a  demand.  "  Certainly,  darling,"  I 
said ;  "  we  will  be  married  in  Westminster  Ab- 


26 


Love  among  the  Lions 


bey,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  if  you 

wish  it,  and  it  can  be  arranged.     What  matter 

where  or  how  the 
ceremony  take 
place,  or  what  it 
cost,  provided  it 
makes  you  mine 
for  ever? ': 

"Then,  The- 
odore," she  said, 
pressing  my  arm 
impulsively  with 
her  slim  fingers, 
while  the  rays  of 
a  street  lamp  in 
the  square  fell 
on  her  upturned 
face  and  shining 
eyes,  "  let  us  be 

married    at   the   Agricultural    Hall — in   the 

Lions'  Cage!  " 

I  confess  to  being  considerably  startled. 

I    had    expected    something    rather    out    of 


'  Let  us  be  married  in  the 
Lions'  Cage." 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  27 

the  common,  but  nothing  in  the  least  like 
this. 

"  In  the  lions'  cage !  "  I  repeated,  blankly. 
"Wouldn't  that  be  rather  smelly,  Lurana? 
And,  besides,  the  menagerie  people  would 
never  lend  it  for  such  a  purpose.  Where 
would  they  put  the  lions,  you  know? ': 

"  Why,  the  lions  would  be  there,  of 
course,"  she  said,  "  or  else  there'd  be  nothing 
in  it." 

"  If  I  am  to  be  married  in  a  lion-cage,"  I 
said,  with  a  very  feeble  attempt  at  levity,  "  I 
should  very  much  prefer  that  there  was  noth- 
mg  in  it. 

"  Ah,  you  may  laugh,  Theodore !  "  she  said, 
"  but,  after  all  your  professions,  surely  you 
won't  refuse  the  very  first  indulgence  I  ask! 
You  may  think  it  a  mere  whim,  a  girlish  ca- 
price; but  understand  this — I  am  thoroughly 
in  earnest  about  it.  If  you  are  willing  to 
marry  me  as  I  wish,  the  wedding  may  be  as 
soon  as  ever  you  please.  But  if  not,  tell  me 
so  plainly,  and  let  us  part  for  ever.     Either 

5 


28  Love  among  the  Lions 

I  will  be  married  in  my  own  way,  or  not 
at  all." 

What  could  I  do?  It  was  simply  impos- 
sible to  give  her  up  now,  the  very  moment 
after  she  was  won.  And  to  lose  her  for  such 
a  mere  punctilio ;  for,  of  course,  this  condition 
of  hers  was  too  fantastic  to  be  practicable;  the 
Professor  would  certainly  refuse  his  consent 
to  so  eccentric  a  ceremony;  Lurana  herself 
would  probably  realise  before  long  the  absurd- 
ity of  the  idea.  In  the  meantime,  as  her 
acknowledged  fiance,  I  should  have  the  im- 
mense advantage  of  being  on  the  spot  when 
she  returned  to  a  more  reasonable  frame  of 
mind. 

So  I  gave  way,  and  assured  her  that  I  had 
no  personal  objection  to  lions,  and  would  as 
soon  be  married  in  their  presence  as  elsewhere, 
provided  that  we  could  obtain  the  necessary 
permission;  and  even  if  I  had  thought  this 
more  probable  than  I  did,  I  believe — so  potent 
was  the  witchery  of  Lurana's  voice  and  eyes 
— I  should  have  said  precisely  the  same. 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  29 

"  Dearest  Theodore!  "  she  murmured,  "  I 
never  really  doubted  you.  I  felt  so  sure  that 
you  would  be  nice  and  sympathetic  about  it. 
If  we  couldn't  agree  about  such  a  trifling 
thing  as  where  we  are  to  be  married,  we  should 
be  unsuited  to  one  another,  shouldn't  we? 
Now  we  will  just  walk  round  the  square  once 
more,  and  then  go  in  and  tell  the  others  what 
we  have  arranged." 

They  had  sat  down  to  supper  when  we  en- 
tered, and  the  Professor  cast  a  glance  of  keen 
inquiry  through  his  spectacles  at  us,  over  the 
cold  beef  and  pickles  with  which  he  was  re- 
cruiting his  energies  after  "  Hiawatha." 

"  Yes,  papa,"  said  Lurana,  calmly,  "  we 
are  a  little  late;  but  Theodore  has  been  asking 
me  to  marry  him,  and  I  have  said  I  would." 

There  was  an  outburst  of  congratulations 
from  Miss  Rakestraw  and  Chuck.  Old  Pol- 
kinghorne  thought  fit  to  conceal  his  joy  under 
a  cloak  of  stagey  emotion.  "  "Well,  well,"  he 
said,  "it  is  Nature's  law;  the  young  birds 
spread  their  wings  and  quit  the  warm  nest,  and 


30  Love  among  the   Lions 

the  old  ones  are  left  to  sit  and  brood  over  the 
past.  I  cannot  blame  you,  child.  As  for 
you,  my  boy,"  he  added,  extending  a  flabby 
hand  to  me,  "  all  I  can  say  is,  there  is  no  one 
to  whom  I  would  so  willingly  surrender  her." 

There  was  scarcely  any  one  to  whom,  in 
my  opinion,  he  would  not  surrender  her  with 
the  utmost  alacrity,  for,  as  I  have  already 
hinted,  Lurana,  with  all  her  irresistible  fascina- 
tion, had  a  temper  of  her  own,  and  was  apt  to 
make  the  parental  nest  a  trifle  too  warm  for 
the  elder  bird  occasionally. 

"  And  when  am  I  to  lose  my  sunbeam? ': 
he  asked.     "  Xot  just  yet?  " 

"  Theodore  wishes  to  have  the  marriage  as 
soon  as  possible,"  said  Lurana,  "  by  special 
licence." 

"  Have  you  settled  where?  "  inquired  Miss 
Eakestraw,  with  feminine  interest  in  such  de- 
tails. 

"  "Well,"  said  Lurana  slowly,  evidently  en- 
joying the  effect  she  was  producing,  "  Theo- 
dore  and  I  have  quite  made  up  our  minds  to  be 


"Yes,  papa,  we  are  a  little  late.' 


32  Love  among  the  Lions 

married  at  the  Menagerie — in  the  den  of 
lions." 

''How  splendid!'  exclaimed  the  lady 
journalist.  "  It's  never  been  done  over  here. 
^Mlat  a  sensation  it  will  make!  I'll  do  a  full 
descriptive  report  for  all  my  papers !  ' 

"  That's  what  I  call  a  real  sporting  way 
of  getting  spliced,"  said  Chuck.  "  Only  wish 
I'd  thought  of  it  myself  before  I  had  our  banns 
put  up,  Ruth.  First-rate  idea  of  yours,  Blen- 
kinsop." 

"  Of  course,"  I  said,  "  if  the  Professor 
thinks  it  in  the  least  unsafe " 

"  Oh,  it's  safe  enough,"  put  in  Chuck,  who 
was  a  little  too  apt  to  volunteer  his  opinion. 
"  Why,  we've  seen  the  lions,  Professor;  they're 
as  quiet  as  lambs.  And  anyway,  they'd  have 
the  lion-tamer  in  with  them,  you  know. 
They'll  be  all  right!" 

"  I  think,"  said  the  Professor,  "  we  may 
disregard  the  danger;  but  the  expense — have 
you  thought  what  it  will  cost,  Theodore?  " 

"  I  have  not,"  I  said,  "  not  till  you  men- 


**?? 


"First-rate  idea  of  yours,  Blenkinsop." 


34  Love  among  the  Lions 

tioned  it.  It  will  probably  be  enormous,  more 
than  I  could  possibly  afford — unless  you  are 
ready  to  go  halves?  "  I  concluded,  feeling  per- 
fectly certain  that  he  was  ready  to  do  nothing 
of  the  sort. 

"But  look  here,"  said  Chuck,  "why 
should  it  cost  you  anything?  If  you  go  the 
right  way  about  it,  you  ought  to  get  all  your 
expenses  paid  by  the  circus,  and  a  share  of  the 
gate-money  into  the  bargain." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Chuck!"  cried  Lurana,  "  how 
clever  of  you  to  think  of  that!  wasn't  it, 
Theodore?  " 

I  could  have  kicked  Chuck,  but  I  said  it 
was  a  stroke  of  positive  genius. 

"  That's  simple  enough,"  he  said.  "  The 
rock  /  see  ahead  is  getting  the  special  licence. 
You  see,  if  you  want  to  marry  anywhere  else 
than  in  a  certified  place  of  worship  or  a 
registry  office,  you  must  first  satisfy  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  or  the  Surrogate, 
or  whoever  the  old  Josser  is  at  Doctors'  Com- 
mons who  looks  after  these  things,  that  it's 


A  Matrimonial   Experience  35 

a  '  convenient  place '  within  the  Marriage 
Act  of  1836.  ISTow,  the  point  is,  will  a  cage 
of  lions  strike  them  as  coming  under  that  de- 
scription? " 

If  it  should,  the  ecclesiastical  notions  of 
convenience  must  be  more  than  peculiar.  For 
the  first  time  I  realised  what  an  able  fellow 
Chuck  was. 

"  My  dear  Chuck !  "  I  said,  "  what  a  mar- 
vellous knowledge  you  have  of  law!  You've 
hit  the  weak  spot.  It  would  be  perfectly 
hopeless  to  make  such  an  application.  It's  a 
pity,  but  we  must  give  it  up,  that's  all — we 
must  give  it  up." 

"  Then,"  said  Lurana,  "  we  must  give  up 
any  marriage  at  all,  for  I  certainly  don't  in- 
tend to  marry  anywhere  else." 

"  After  all,"  said  the  irrepressible  Chuck, 
"  all  you  need  apply  for  is  a  licence  to  marry 
in  the  Agricultural  Hall;  they  won't  want  to 
know  the  exact  spot.  I  tell  you  what,  you  go 
and  talk  it  over  with  the  circus  people  and  fix 
the  day,  and  I'll  go  up  to  Doctors'  Commons 


36  Love  among  the  Lions 

and  get  round  'em  somehow.     You  leave  it  to 


me." 


"  Do  you  know,"  said  the  Professor,  beam- 
ing, "  I  really  begin  to  think  this  idea  of  yours 
can  be  carried  out  quite  comfortably  after 
all,  Theodore.  It  certainly  has  the  attraction 
of  novelty,  besides  being  safe,  and  even,  it 
may  be,  remunerative.  To  a  true  lover,  a 
lions'  cage  may  be  as  fit  a  temple  of  Hymen 
as  any  other  structure,  and  their  roars  be 
gentle  as  the  ring-dove's  coo.  Go  and  see 
these  people  the  first  thing  to-morrow,  and  no 
doubt  you  will  be  able  to  come  to  terms  with 
them." 

This  I  agreed  to  do,  and  Lurana  insisted 
on  coming  with  me.  Miss  Rakestraw  was  in 
ecstasies  over  our  proposal,  and  undertook  to 
what  she  called  "  boom  the  wedding  for  all  it 
was  worth  "  in  every  paper  with  which  she 
had  any  connection,  and  with  other  more  influ- 
ential organs  to  which  the  possession  of  such 
exclusive  intelligence  as  hers  would  procure 
her  the  entree. 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  37 

By  the  end  of  the  evening  she  had  com- 
pletely turned  Lurana's  head,  and  even  I  my- 
self was  not  quite  untouched  by  the  general 
enthusiasm.  It  seemed  to  me  that  being  mar- 
ried in  a  den  of  lions  might  not  be  such  bad 
fun  after  all. 

When  I  awoke  next  morning  with  the 
dawning  recollection  of  what  I  was  in  for,  the 
glamour  had  in  a  great  measure  departed  from 
the  idea,  which  seemed  to  me  at  best  but  a 
foolish  piece  of  bravado.  It  had  been  ar- 
ranged that  I  should  call  for  Lurana  imme- 
diately after  breakfast,  and  interview  the  cir- 
cus proprietors  on  my  way  to  business,  and  I 
rather  expected  to  find  that  the  night  had 
borne  counsel  to  her  as  well  as  myself;  but  she 
was  in  exuberant  spirits,  and  as  keen  about  the 
project  as  ever,  so  I  thought  it  better  not  to 
betray  that  my  own  ardour  had  abated. 

But  what,  after  all,  were  we  going  to  re- 
quest? That  these  people  should  allow  their 
lions  to  be  inconvenienced,  quite  unnecessa- 
rily, by  a  wedding  in  their  cage  between  two 


3$  Love  among  the  Lions 

perfect  strangers  who  had  all  London  to  choose 
from! 

I  believed  that  they  would  decline  to  en- 
tertain the  suggestion  for  a  moment,  and,  if 
so,  I  could  not  blame  them.  I  felt  that  they 
would  have  both  right  and  reason  on  their 
side. 

On  arriving  at  the  Hall,  we  inquired  for 
Mr.  Wooker  or  Mr.  Sawkins,  and  were  re- 
quested to  wait,  which  we  did  in  a  draughty 
passage  smelling  strongly  of  stables,  while  loud 
snorting  and  wheezing  reached  our  ears  from 
the  arena,  where  they  seemed  to  be  exercising 
the  circus  stud. 

At  last  we  were  told  that  Mr.  Sawkins 
would  see  us  (I  don't  know  to  this  day  whether 
Mr.  Wooker  had  any  real  existence  or  not), 
and  were  shown  up  to  his  office,  which  did  not 
differ  from  any  other  office,  except  that  it  had 
a  gaudy  circus  poster  and  a  bill  announcing 
the  sale  by  auction  of  some  rival  menagerie 
pinned  against  the  wall.  As  for  Mr.  Sawkins, 
he  was  a  florid,  jowly  man,  with  the  remnants 


A  Matrimonial   Experience  39 

of  his  hair  dyed  and  parted  down  the  middle, 
a  kind  of  amalgam  of  a  country  job-master 
and  the  dignified  person  who  bows  customers 
into  chairs  in  a  fashionable  draper's  establish- 
ment. 

He  heard  Lurana,  who  acted  as  spokes- 
woman, with  magisterial  gravity,  and,  to  my 
surprise,  without  appearing  to  regard  us  as  a 
pair  of  morbid  maniacs. 

"  There's  no  denying,"  he  said,  "  that  the 
thing  would  draw  if  properly  billed,  always 
supposing,  mind  you,  that  it's  capable  of  be- 
ing done  at  all.  And  the  only  person  able  to 
give  an  opinion  about  that  is  Mr.  Onion,  the 
gentleman,"  he  explained,  "  who  is  our  Lion 
King.  He  spells  his  name  '  Xiono  '  profes- 
sionally, which  gives  it  more  of  an  African 
flavour,  if  you  follow  my  meaning.  I'll  call 
down  the  tube  for  him." 

I  awaited  Mr.  Onion's  arrival  with  impa- 
tience. He  presently  made  his  appearance  in 
a  short-braided  tunic,  with  black  lamb's  wool 
round  the  collar  and  cuffs.     By  daylight  his 


40  Love  among  the  Lions 

countenance,  though  far  from  ill-looking,  was 
sallow  and  seamed;  there  was  a  glance  of  ad- 
miration in  his  bold,  dark  eyes  as  they  rested 
on  Lurana's  spirited  face. 

"  Well,"  he  decided,  after  the  case  had 
been  explained  to  him,  "  if  the  lady's  as  game 
as  she  seems,  and  the  gentleman  likewise,  / 
don't  see  any  objection.  Along  with  me, 
there'll  be  no  more  danger  than  if  it  was  a 
cage  of  white  mice — provided  you've  the 
nerve  for  it." 

Lurana  said  proudly  that  her  own  mother 
had  been  an  accomplished  animal  trainer — 
she  did  not  mention  the  kind  of  animals — and 
that  she  herself  was  'quite  incapable  of  being 
afraid  of  a  lion. 

"  If  you've  got  nerve,"  said  Mr.  Niono, 
"  you're  right  enough,  but  you  can't  create  it ; 
it's  a  gift.  Take  me.  I'm  hardly  ever  away 
from  my  animals.  I  get  downright  impatient 
for  every  performance.  But  if  ever  I  got  the 
feeling  that  I  was  afraid  of  them  lions  or  they 
weren't  afraid  o'  me,  do  you  think  I'd  trust 


"  Well,  if  the  lady's  as  game  as  she  seems,  and   the 
gentleman  likewise,  I  don't  see  any  objection." 


42  Love  among  the  Lions 

myself  inside  that  cage?  No  fear!  They've 
left  their  marks  on  me  as  it  is — my  '  trade 
marks/  as  I  call  'em — see!  "  and  here  he  bared 
his  arm  and  exhibited  some  fearful  scars;  "  but 
that's  affection,  that  is." 

He  then  offered  to  introduce  us  to  his  pets, 
and  I  should  have  accompanied  Lurana  to  see 
the  cage,  only  on  the  way  we  met  Mile.  Leonie, 
to  whom  Mr.  Sawkins  presented  me,  and,  natu- 
rally, I  was  compelled  to  stop.  She  was  a 
piquant-looking  woman,  not  quite  in  her  first 
youth,  perhaps,  but  still  attractive,  and  with 
the  indescribable,  airy  grace  of  a  Parisian, 
though  I  believe  she  came  from  Belgium. 
Mademoiselle  was  charmed  with  our  project, 
complimented  me  upon  my  Britannic  phlegm, 
and  predicted  that  I  should  find  the  little  ex- 
perience "  all,"  as  she  put  it,  "  that  there  was 
of  the  most  agreeable,"  which  I  devoutly 
hoped  would  be  the  case. 

We  were  still  chatting  when  Lurana  re- 
turned, enraptured  with  the  lions,  one  of 
whom  had  actually  allowed  her  to  tickle  him 


"We  were  still  chatting  when  Lurana  returned. 


44  Love  among  the  Lions 

behind  the  ear.  Mono  testified  that  her 
nerve,  at  all  events,  was  beyond  question. 
She  was  anxious  that  I  should  go  and  tickle 
the  lion,  too;  but  this  I  declined,  being  occu- 
pied in  talking  to  Mile.  Leonie  at  the  time. 

"  There's  one  thing,"  said  Mr.  Sawkins 
later,  as  we  were  discussing  the  arrangements, 
"  we  shouldn't  object  to  paying  for  the  special 
licence;  but  where  are  you  going  to  find  a  par- 
son to  marry  you?  You  must  have  a  parson 
of  some  sort,  you  know." 

Again  Fate  seemed  to  have  interposed  an 
insurmountable  barrier  between  us  and  our  de- 
sire. I  had  to  admit  that  it  would  be  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  find  a  clergyman  cour- 
ageous enough  to  enter  the  cage  with  us. 

f  Well,  there's  no  call  for  him  to  be  inside 
of  it,"  said  Mr.  Mono,  who  was  with  us,  heart 
and  soul,  by  this  time.  "  In  fact,  the  lady 
and  yourself  are  about  as  many  as  I  could  un- 
dertake to  be  answerable  for.  We  could  rig 
him  up  a  perch  outside  to  read  the  service  from, 
comfortable." 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  45 

Even  so,  I  said,  I  was  afraid  that  it  was 
hardly  a  service  one  could  ask  any  divine  to 
perform. 

"  I  know  a  party  who'd  jump  at  it,"  said 
Mr.  Mono,  who  was  full  of  resource.  "  The 
Reverend  Skipworth.  You  know  who  I  mean, 
Sawkins.  Little  chap  in  a  check  suit  and 
goggles  I  introduced  to  you  at  the  bar  the 
other  evening — always  dropping  in,  he  is. 
He'd  do  it,  just  for  the  lark  of  the  thing.  And 
he's  a  regular  professional,  you  know,"  he 
added  for  my  benefit,  "  though  he  don't  sport 
a  white  choker  in  his  off  hours;  likes  to  go 
about  and  see  life  for  himself,  and  quite  right. 
You  get  the  licence,  sir,  and  I'll  guarantee 
that  the  Reverend  JSTinian  Skipworth  will  do 
the  job  for  you." 

So  we  left  the  hall,  delighted,  especially 
Lurana,  with  the  unexpected  ease  with  which 
our  object  had  been  attained.  It  had  seemed 
at  first  the  wildest  extravagance,  and  now  there 
was  apparently  every  prospect  that  Lurana  and 
I  would  really  exchange  our  marriage  vows  in 


4-6  Love  among  the   Lions 

a  den  of  forest-bred  lions,  unless  (which,  of 
course,  was  a  possibility  that  had  to  be  taken 
into  account)  the  ecclesiastical  authorities 
should  refuse  to  grant  a  special  licence. 

I  was  unable  to  apply  in  person  at  Doctors' 
Commons,  for  Lurana  insisted  that  I  should 
leave  the  whole  matter  in  Chuck's  hands,  but 
I  impressed  upon  him  the  necessity  of  abso- 
lute candour  with  the  officials. 

Whether  he  told  them  all,  whether  they 
were  remiss  in  making  full  inquiry,  or  whether 
— as  I  would  rather  not  think — he  intention- 
ally deceived  them,  I  cannot  say,  but  at  all 
events  he  came  back  triumphantly  with  the 
special  licence. 

"Wooker  and  Sawkins  had  fixed  an  early 
date,  and  wished  the  wedding  to  take  place 
at  night,  so  as  to  figure  in  the  evening  pro- 
gramme, but  the  Surrogate,  or  somebody  at 
the  office,  had  insisted  that  it  must  be  in  the 
afternoon,  which  would,  of  course,  oblige  Mr. 
Sawkins  to  introduce  it  at  a  matinee  perform- 
ance. 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  47 

Miss  Rakestraw  proved  herself  a  born 
journalist.  She  placed  her  news  at  the  dis- 
posal of  an  enterprising  evening  journal, 
whose  bills  that  very  same  evening  came  out 
with  startling  and  alliterative  head-lines 
such  as: 

Love  Laughs  at  Lions! 

Canonbury  Couple  to  Marry  in 

Cageful  of  Carnivora 

and  from  that  moment,  as  the  reader  will 
recollect,  Lurana  and  I  became  public  char- 
acters. 

There  were  portraits — quite  unrecognis- 
able— of  us  in  several  of  the  illustrated  week- 
lies, together  with  sketches  of  and  interviews 
with  us  both,  contributed  by  Miss  Ruth's  fa- 
cile stylograph,  and  an  account  of  the  Pro- 
fessor, contributed  by  himself. 

As  for  the  daily  papers  there  was  scarcely 
one,  from  the  Times  downwards,  which  did 
not  contain  a  leader,  a  paragraph,  or  a  letter 
on  the  subject  of  our  contemplated  wedding. 


48  Love  among  the   Lions 

Some  denounced  me  violently  for  foolhardy 
rashness,  others  for  the  selfishness  with  which 
I  was  encouraging  an  impressionable  girl  to 
risk  her  life  to  gratify  my  masculine  vanity. 
Several  indignantly  demanded  whether  it  was 
true  that  the  Archbishop  had  sanctioned  such 
a  scandalous  abuse  of  marriage  rites,  and  if 
so,  what  the  Home  Office  were  about? 

There  was  a  risk  that  all  this  publicity 
would  end  in  the  authorities  being  compelled 
to  interfere  and  countermand  the  ceremony, 
and  yet  I  cannot  honestly  say  that  I  disliked 
the  fuss  that  was  made  about  it.  In  the  City, 
to  be  sure,  I  had  to  put  up  with  a  certain 
amount  of  chaff;  facetious •  inquiries  as  to 
whether  I  intended  to  present  the  leonine 
bridesmaids  with  bones  or  pieces  of  raw  meat, 
and  the  precise  locality  in  which  my  wife  and 
I  thought  of  spending  our  honeymoon.  But 
such  badinage  covered  a  very  genuine  respect 
•  for  my  intrepidity,  and  I  was  looked  upon  as 
a  credit  to  the  tea  trade. 

The  appointed  day  was  getting  nearer  and 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  49 

nearer,  and  still — so  wonderfully  did  Fortune 
befriend  us — the  authorities  gave  no  sign  of 
any  intention  to  interfere.  Parliament  had 
not  yet  reassembled,  so  no  one  could  rise  and 
put  a  question  in  the  House  to  the  Home  Sec- 
retary, and  if  Government  officials  ever  read 
the  morning  papers,  it  seemed  that  they  did 
not  feel  called  upon  to  take  cognisance  of  any- 
thing they  read  there,  unless  compelled  to  do 
so  by  pressure  from  without. 

Nor  did  the  Archbishop  take  any  steps. 
No  doubt  he  may  have  been  unaware  of  the 
precise  conditions  under  which  the  ceremony 
was  to  be  sanctioned,  and  the  same  remark  ap- 
plies to  the  Bishop  of  London.  It  is  true  that 
their  attention  was  drawn  to  the  facts  by  more 
than  one  postcard,  as  I  have  reason  to  know. 
But  some  people  make  a  practice — and  it  is 
not  for  me  to  condemn  them — of  taking  no 
notice  of  anonymous  communications. 

However,  as  the  time  drew  on,  I  thought 
it  would  be  only  proper  on  my  part  to  go  and 
call  upon  the  Reverend  Xinian  Skipworth,  the 


5<d  Love  among  the  Lions 

curate  with  whom  our  energetic  friend,  Mr. 
Niono,  had  now  made  all  the  necessary  ar- 
rangements, and  find  out,  quietly,  what  his 
state  of  mind  was.  He  might  be  wavering,  in 
which  case  I  should  have  to  strengthen  his 
resolution.  Or  he  might  not  yet  have  real- 
ised all  the  possible  consequences  of  his  good 
nature,  and  if  so,  I  should  not  be  acting  fairly 
towards  him  if  I  did  not  lay  them  before  him, 
even  though  the  result  should  be  that  he  with- 
drew from  his  engagement. 

Niono  had  given  me  his  address,  and  I 
looked  in  at  the  curate's  unpretentious  lodg- 
ings one  evening  on  my  way  home.  I  found 
him  in,  and  as  soon  as  he  learnt  my  name,  he 
offered  me  whisky  and  soda  and  a  cigar  with 
most  unparsonical  joviality. 

The  Reverend  Mnian,  I  found,  was  a 
cleric  of  the  broad-minded  school  which 
scorns  conventional  restrictions;  he  held  that 
if  the  Church  was  to  maintain  its  influence,  it 
must  follow  the  trend  of  modern  progress,  and 
neglect  no  opportunity  of  winning  the  hearts 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  5T 

of  the  people.  He  was  only  sorry,  he  told 
me,  that  the  prejudices  of  his  Bishop  would 
prevent  him  from  reading  the  service  inside 
the  cage. 

I  replied  gratefully  that  I  was  sufficiently 


A  Cleric  of  the  broad-minded  school. 


indebted  to  him  as  it  was,  since  if  his  connec- 
tion with  the  affair  reached  the  episcopal  ear, 
he  would  be  in  serious  danger  of  being  sus- 
pended, even  if  he  did  not  receive  some  still 
heavier  punishment. 

"Oh,  don't  you  bother  about  that!"  he 
8 


52  Love  among  the  Lions 

said,  cheerily ;  "  it's  awfully  good  of  you  to 
trouble  yourself  on  my  account;  but  if  the 
Bishop  is  such  an  old  stick-in-the-mud  as  to 
haul  me  up  for  a  little  thing  like  this,  I  shall 
simply  chuck  up  the  Church  altogether,  that's 
all!  In  fact,  I've  almost  decided  to  do  it  in 
any  case,  for  I  believe  I  could  do  more  real 
good  outside  the  Establishment  than  in.  And 
I  admire  your  pluck,  my  dear  fellow,  and 
your  manly  straightforwardness  in  coming 
here  like  this;  and  I'm  hanged  if  I  don't  marry 
you  and  chance  the  consequences,  so  don't  say 
another  word  about  it." 

I  didn't,  though  I  need  not  say  I  wTas  pro- 
foundly moved  by  the  genuine  sympathy  and 
assistance  which  our  project  seemed  to  inspire 
in  the  most  unexpected  quarters. 

My  one  anxiety  now  was  about  Lurana. 
Outwardly  she  appeared  cheerful  and  even 
gay,  and  thoroughly  to  enjoy  her  position  as 
the  heroine  of  the  hour;  but  how  could  I  be 
sure  that  this  was  genuine  and  not  a  high- 
strung  hysterical  self-repression  which  would 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  53 

be  succeeded  by  a  violent  reaction,  it  might  be 
in  the  lions'  cage  itself? 

From  that  at  all  hazards  she  must  be 
saved.  Earnestly,  seriously,  I  pointed  out  how 
much  would  depend  on  her  maintaining  per- 
fect coolness  and  composure  during  the  cere- 
mony, and  implored  her,  if  she  felt  the  slight- 
est misgivings,  the  smallest  tendency  to  shrink 
in  secret  from  the  coming  ordeal,  not  to  allow 
any  false  pride  to  close  her  lips.  There  was 
still  time,  I  reminded  her.  If  on  second 
thoughts,  she  preferred  to  be  married  in  the 
old  time-honoured  way,  instead  of  in  a  Men- 
agerie den,  she  had  only  to  say  so.  Her  hap- 
piness and  comfort  were  the  chief  things  to 
consider. 

"Withdraw  now,  Theodore?'1  she  said, 
"  after  announcing  it  in  all  the  papers !  Why, 
how  could  we?  " 

"  I  would  take  all  that  upon  myself,"  I 
told  her;  "  I  need  only  say  that  you  don't  feel 
quite  equal  to  facing  lions." 

"  But  I  do,  Theodore,"  she  said,  "  the  dear, 


54  Love  among  the  Lions 

ducky,  pussy-faced  old  things!  Who  could 
possibly  be  afraid  of  lions — especially  with 
Mr.  Mono  to  protect  us?  " 

"  If  you  knew  more  about  lions,  Lurana," 
I  said,  "  you  would  know  how  liable  they  are 
to  sudden  rages,  and  how  little  even  lion- 
tamers  themselves " 

"  If  you  go  on  like  that,  Theodore,"  she 
said,  "  I  shall  begin  to  think  that  you  want  to 
frighten  me — and  even  that  you  are  just  a 
little  frightened  yourself.  But  I'm  not  to  be 
frightened.  I  should  not  be  my  mother's 
daughter  if  1  had  any  fear  of  animals.  And 
once  for  all,  you  will  either  marry  me  in  the 
lions'  cage  or  not  at  all !  ': 

I  saw  that  I  should  only  be  exposing  my- 
self to  further  misunderstanding  if  I  pursued 
the  subject.  Lurana  had  that  quality  of 
courage  which  springs  from  a  total  lack  of 
imagination ;  she  had  never  seen  a  performing 
lion  ramp  and  roar,  and  it  was  inconceivable  to 
her  that  one  could  ever  indulge  in  such  exer- 
cises.    Still  less  did  she  understand  that  there 


"If  you  go  on  like  that  I  shall  begin  to  think  you 


want  to  frighten  me.' 


56  Love  among  the  Lions 

is  another  type  of  courage,  which  sees  all  the 
difficulties  and  dangers  beforehand,  even  ex- 
aggerated by  distance,  and  yet  advances  calm- 
ly and  undauntedly  to  encounter  them.  My 
courage  was  of  that  sort,  and  it  is  generally  ad- 
mitted that  it  belongs  to  a  far  higher  order 
than  the  other. 

Now  that  the  die  was  cast  I  found  myself 
anticipating  the  eventful  day  with  philosophic 
equanimity.  It  was  an  uncomfortable  meth- 
od of  getting  married,  no  doubt,  but  after  all, 
what  man  ever  was  comfortable  at  his  own 
wedding? 

And  surely  one  crowded  quarter-of-an- 
hour  (for  it  would  certainly  be  crowded  in  that 
cage)  of  glorious  life  would  be  worth  an  age 
without  Lurana — who  was  not  to  be  won  by 
any  other  means. 


PART   II 

It  was  now  the  eve  of  my  wedding-day, 
and  it  was  generally  taken  for  granted  that 
Lurana  and  I  would  be  allowed  to  enter  the 
lion-cage  without  opposition  from  any  quarter. 

Whether  we  should  find  it  as  easv  to  come 
out  again  was  a  point  on  which  opinions  dif- 
fered considerably,  but  the  majority  must  have 
been  confident  that  the  ceremony  would  pass 
off  without  any  unpleasant  interruption — for 
the  rush  to  obtain  seats  was  tremendous. 

I  was  just  as  tranquil  and  collected  as  ever; 
I  could  not  detect  that  my  valour  had  "  ul- 
laged,"  as  wine-merchants  say,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  though  Lurana  was  perpetually  ques- 
tioning me  as  to  whether  I  was  sure  I  would 
not  rather  withdraw. 

Of  course,  I  indignantly  repudiated  the 

57 


r8  Love  among  the  Lions 

very  idea,  but  it  is  well  known  that  a  perfectly 
sober  person,  if  suddenly  taxed  with  being 
drunk,  will  seem  and  even  feel  so,  and  it  is 
much  the  same  with  any  imputation  of  cow- 
ardice. 

I  began  to  think  that  constant  tea  tasting, 
even  though  the  infusions  are  not  actually 
swallowed,  probably  has  some  subtle  effect 
upon  the  nervous  system,  and  that  it  would 
brace  me  up  and  also  show  me  how  little  cause 
I  had  to  be  uneasy,  if  I  dropped  into  the  Agri- 
cultural Hall  once  more  and  saw  Niono  put 
his  lions  through  their  performances. 

So  I  left  the  City  early  that  afternoon  and 
paid  for  my  admission  to  the  hall  like  an  ordi- 
nary sightseer;  I  did  not  ask  Lurana  to  accom- 
pany me,  because  I  knew  she  must  have  plenty 
to  keep  her  at  home  just  then. 

I  was  just  in  time  for  the  performing  lions, 
and  found  a  place  in  the  outer  edge  of  the 
crowd;  it  was  strange  to  stand  there  unrecog- 
nised and  hear  myself  being  freely  discussed 
by  all  around;  strange  and  decidedly  exhilara- 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  59 

ting,  too,  to  think  that  in  another  twenty-four 
hours  I  should  be,  not  a  spectator  of  what  was 
to  take  place  in  that  arena,  but  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal performers,  the  centre  of  breathless  in- 
terest, the  hero  of  the  hour! 

But  with  the  appearance  of  the  cage,  this 
unnatural  exhilaration  suddenly  died  down. 
It  was  not  so  much  the  lions,  though  they 
struck  me  as  larger  and  less  easy-tempered 
than  on  the  first  occasion,  while  the  lioness 
was  as  nearly  in  open  revolt  as  she  dared. 
What  troubled  me  most  was  that  the  cage  con- 
tained another  inmate,  one  whom  I  did  not  re- 
member to  have  seen  before — a  magnificent 
specimen  of  the  Bengal  tiger. 

It  seemed  perfectly  clear  to  me  that  the 
brute  was  only  about  half-trained;  he  went 
through  his  tricks  in  a  sullen  perfunctory  way, 
with  a  savage,  snurring  snap  every  now  and 
then,  which,  even  at  that  distance,  made  my 
flesh  creep. 

And,  whenever  he  snapped,  clouds  of 
steam  issued  from  his  great  jaws;  I  could  see, 


60  Love  among  the  Lions 

too,  that  the  lioness  was  secretly  egging  him  on 
to  fresh  acts  of  defiance,  and  that  he  was  only 
watching  his  opportunity  to  crouch  and  spring 
as  soon  as  Niono's  back  was  turned. 

I  was  perfectly  determined  that  I  would 
not  have  that  tiger  at  my  wedding;  he  would 
never  keep  still  for  a  moment ;  he  would  upset 
all  the  other  animals,  and  how  could  I  be  ex- 
pected to  remain  cool  with  a  great,  hot,  steam- 
ing beast  like  that  at  my  elbow?  Why,  he 
must  raise  the  temperature  of  that  cage  to  the 
atmosphere  of  a  Turkish  bath !  For  Lurana's 
sake  as  well  as  my  own,  I  really  must  draw  the 
line  at  tigers — they  were  not  in  the  bond. 

Another  thing  that  annoyed  me  was  the 
senseless  tomfoolery  of  the  clowns,  who  per- 
sisted in  running  after  the  cage  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  performance,  and  teasing  the  poor 
defenceless  animals  by  making  grimaces  and 
dashing  their  ridiculous  conical  hats  against 
the  bars.  It  was  painful  to  think  that  any  one 
could  be  found  to  smile  at  such  cheap  buf- 
foonery— if  I  had  been  the  ring-master,   I 


A  Matrimonial   Experience 


61 


would  have  given  those  cowardly  idiots  a  taste 
of  the  whip! 

I  decided  to  go  round  afterwards  and  see 
Onion  about  that  tiger. 

I  did  not  see  the  lion-tamer,  as  he  had  just 
left  the  hall,  and  Mr.  Saw- 
kins,  I  was  told,  was  en- 
gaged, but  I  saw  Mile. 
Leonie,  who  was  most 
friendly. 

I  remarked  carelessly, 
that  I  saw  they  had  put  a 
tiger  into  the  cage. 

Mademoiselle  said  he 
was  a  member  of  the 
troupe,  but  had  been  indis- 
posed and  temporarily 
transferred  to  the  hospital 
cage. 

I  hinted  that  a  tiger,  however  convales- 
cent, was  hardlv  a  desirable  addition  to  our 
wedding  party.  Mademoiselle  was  astounded ; 
a  so  gracious  beast,  a  veritable  treasure,  with 


Mademoiselle. 


62  Love  among  the  Lions 

him  present,  the  ceremony  would  have  a  style, 
a  cachet,  an  elegance.  Without  him — ah! 
bah!  it  would  be  triste — banal,  tame! 

I  admitted  this,  but  urged  that  we  were 
quiet  people  who  wanted  to  be  married  as  quiet- 
ly as  possible,  and  that  a  tiger,  for  persons  in 
our  condition  of  life,  was  a  ridiculous  piece  of 
ostentation.  It  was  always  better  to  begin  as 
one  meant  to  go  on. 

She  differed  from  me  totally.  I  was  too 
modest,  for,  of  course,  it  was  incredible  that  I, 
who  was  so  full  of  sangfroid,  could  object  to 
the  tiger  for  any  other  reason? 

"  Personally,"  I  replied,  "  I  had  no  preju- 
dice against  tigers  whatever — but  Mademoi- 
selle would  understand  that  I  was  bound  to 
consider  another  person's  convenience." 

"  Not  possible !  "  exclaimed  Mademoiselle, 
"  a  young  lady  with  so  much  verve  to  be  timid ! 
Why,  Mons.  Onion  raved  of  her  fearlessness!  ': 

I  said  it  was  not  timidity  in  Lurana's  case 
— she  merely  happened  to  have  an  antipathy 
for  tigers.    Some  people,  as  Mademoiselle  was 


A  Matrimonial   Experience  63 

doubtless  aware,  were  unable  to  remain  in  the 
same  room  with  a  cat;  Miss  de  Castro  could 
not  stay  in  the  same  cage  with  a  tiger — it  was 
temperament. 

"Ah,"  said  Mile.  Hortense,  "I  under- 
stand that.     A  sensitive? " 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  a  sensitive."  ' 

"  But  Mono  says  she  is  one  of  us!  "  ob- 
jected Mademoiselle,  "  that  she  was  brought  up 
amongst  animals — that  her  mamma  was  her- 
self an  animal-tamer." 

"  Of  white  mice  and  canary  birds,"  I  said, 
;'  but  that  is  not  quite  the  same  thing  as  tigers, 
and  I  am  perfectly  certain  that  if  that  tiger  is 
retained,  the  wedding  will  not  take  place." 

Her  keen  grey  eyes  flashed  with  compre- 
hension. Ah,  the  poor  little  one!  in  that  case 
it  was  another  thing.  She  would  speak  to  the 
"  Patron  ':  and  to  Mons.  Onion;  the  tiger 
should  not  be  permitted  to  trouble  the  fete.  I 
could  rely  absolutely  upon  her — he  should  be 
accommodated  elsewhere. 

I  went  back  to  Lurana  in  a  somewhat  re- 


64  Love  among  the  Lions 

lieved  frame  of  mind,  and  when  she  asked  me 
where  I  had  been,  I  mentioned,  perhaps  un- 
wisely, that  I  had  dropped  in  at  the  Circus  and 
had  a  little  chat  with  Mile.  Leonie.  I  did  not 
say  anything  about  the  tiger,  because  there 
seemed  to  be  no  object  in  disturbing  her,  now 
that  the  matter  was  comfortably  settled,  not  to 
mention  that  if  Lurana  had  known  I  had  di- 
rected the  removal  of  the  tiger  without  con- 
sulting her,  she  was  quite  self-willed  enough 
to  insist  on  his  immediate  restoration  to  the 
lion-cage. 

Most  girls  would  have  been  impressed  by 
my  courage  in  going  near  the  Circus  at  all 
at  such  a  time;  not  so  Lurana,  who  pre- 
tended to  believe  that  Mile.  Leonie  was  the 
attraction. 

"  Oh,  I  noticed  she  was  making  eyes  at 
you  from  the  very  beginning,"  she  declared; 
"you  had  better  marry  her,  and  then  Mr. 
Xiono  could  marry  me.  I  daresay  he  would 
have  no  objection." 

"  My  darling,"  I  said,  gently,  "  do  not  let 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  65 

us  quarrel  the  very  last  evening  we  may  spend 
together  on  earth." 

"  You  might  take  a  more  cheerful  view  of 
it  than  that,  Theodore!  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  I  think  you  are  a  little  inclined  to  treat 
it  too  lightly,"  I  replied.  "  I  have  been  study- 
ing those  lions,  Lurana,  and  it  is  my  deliberate 
opinion  that  they  are  in  a  condition  of  sup- 
pressed excitement  which  will  break  out  on  the 
slightest  pretext.  Unless  you  can  trust  your- 
self to  meet  their  gaze  without  faltering,  with- 
out so  much  as  a  flicker  of  the  eyelid,  you  will, 
unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  stand  consider- 
able chance  of  being  torn  to  pieces." 

"  Nonsense,  Theodore!  "  she  said.  "  They 
can't  possibly  tell  whether  I  am  meeting  their 
gaze  or  not,  or  even  shutting  my  eyes — for,  of 
course,  I  shall  be  wearing  a  veil." 

But  I  should  not — and  it  really  did  not 
seem  fair.  "  I  rather  thought  of  putting  on  a 
green  shade  myself,"  I  said.  It  had  only  just 
occurred  to  me. 

"  Don't   be  absurd,    Theodore !  "   she   re- 


66  Love  among  the  Lions 

plied.  "  What  can  you  want  with  a  green 
shade?  " 

"  My  eyes  are  not  strong,"  I  said,  "  and 
with  those  electric  lights  so  close  to  the  cage, 
I  might  blink  or  even  close  my  eyes.  A 
green  shade,  like  your  bridal  veil,  would  con- 
ceal the  act!  " 

"  As  if  anybody  ever  lieard  of  a  bride- 
groom with  a  green  shade  over  his  eyes!  I 
certainly  will  not  enter  that  cage  if  I  am  to 
be  made  publicly  ridiculous!  ': 

"  Do  I  understand,"  I  said,  very  gravely, 
"  that  you  refuse  to  enter  the  lion-cage? ': 

"  With  a  man  in  a  green  shade  ?  Most  cer- 
tainly I  refuse.     Not  otherwise." 

"  Then  you  will  sacrifice  my  life  to  mere 
appearances?  Ah,  Lurana,  that  is  only  one 
more  proof  that  vanity — not  love — has  led  you 
to  this  marriage!  " 

"  Why  don't  you  own  at  once  that  you'd 
give  anything  to  get  out  of  it,  Theodore? ': 

"  It  is  you,"  I  retorted,  "  you,  Lurana,  who 
are  secretly  dreading  the  ordeal,  and  you  are 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  67 

trying  to  throw  the  responsibility  of  giving 
up  the  whole  thing  on  me — it's  not  fair,  you 
know!" 

"  J  want  to  give  up  the  whole  thing  %     The- 
odore, you  know  that  isn't  true!  ' 

"  Children,  children!  "  said  the  Professor, 
who  had  been  a  silent  and  unnoticed  witness 
of  our  dispute  till  then.     "  What  is  this  talk 
about  giving  up  the  marriage  ?     I  implore  you 
to  consider  the  consequences,  if  the  wedding  is 
broken  off  now  by  your  default.     You  will 
be  mobbed  by  a  justly  indignant  crowd,  which 
will  probably  wreck  the  hall  as  a  sign  of  their 
displeasure.     You  are  just  now  the  two  most 
prominent  and  popular  persons  in  the  United 
Kingdom — you  will  become  the  objects  of  uni- 
versal derision.     You  will  ruin  that  worthy 
and  excellent  man,  Mr.  Sawkins,  offend  Archi- 
bald Chuck,  and  do  irretrievable  damage  to 
Miss  Rakestraw's  prospects  of  success  in  jour- 
nalism.    Of  myself  I  say  nothing,  though  I 
may  mention  that  the  persons  who  have  paid 
me  fancy  prices  for  the  few  seats  which  the 
10 


68  Love  among  the  Lions 

management  placed  at  my  disposition  will  in- 
fallibly demand  restitution  and  damages.  I 
might  even  be  forced  to  recover  them  from 
you,  Theodore.  On  the  other  hand,  by  merely 
facing  a  hardly  appreciable  danger  for  a  very 
few  minutes,  you  cover  yourselves  with  undy- 
ing glory,  you  gain  rich  and  handsome  wed- 
ding gifts,  which  I  hear  the  proprietors  intend 
to  bestow  upon  you;  you  receive  an  ovation 
such  as  is  generally  reserved  for  Koyal  nup- 
tials ;  and  yet  you,  Theodore,  would  forfeit  all 
this — for  what?  For  a  green  shade,  which 
would  probably  only  serve  to  infuriate  the 
animals?  " 

This  had  not  struck  me  before,  and  I  could 
not  help  seeing  that  there  was  something  in  it. 

"  I  give  up  the  shade,"  I  said;  "  but  I  do 
think  that  Lurana  is  in  such  a  nervous  and 
overstrung  condition  just  now  that  it  is  not 
safe  for  her  to  enter  the  cage  without  a  medical 
certificate." 

Lurana  laughed.  "  What  for,  Theodore? 
To  satisfy  the  lions?     Don't  distress  yourself 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  69 

on  my  account — I  am  perfectly  well.  At  the 
appointed  time  I  shall  present  myself  at  the — 
the  altar.  If  you  are  not  there  to  receive  me, 
to  stand  by  my  side  in  the  sight  of  all,  you  lose 
me  for  ever.  A  De  Castro  can  never  marry  a 
Craven." 

She  looked  so  splendid  as  she  said  this  that 
I  felt  there  was  no  peril  in  the  world  that  I 
would  not  face  to  gain  her,  that  life  without 
her  would  be  unendurable. 

Since  she  was  as  resolved  as  ever  on  this 
project,  I  must  see  it  out,  that  was  all,  and  trust 
to  luck  to  pull  me  through.  Onion  would  be 
there — and  he  understood  lions;  and,  besides, 
there  was  always  the  bare  chance  of  the  cere- 
mony being  stopped  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

I  left  early,  knowing  that  I  should  require 
a  good  night's  rest,  and  Lurana  and  I  parted, 
on  the  understanding  that  our  next  meeting 
would  be  at  the  Agricultural  Hall  on  the  fol- 
lowing afternoon. 

Whether  it  was  due  to  a  cup  of  coffee  I 
had  taken  at  the  Professor's,  or  to  some  other 


70  Love  among  the  Lions 

cause,  I  do  not  know,  but  I  had  a  wretched 
night,  sleeping  very  literally  in  fits  and  starts, 
and  feeling  almost  thankful  when  it  was  time 
to  get  up. 

A  cold  bath  freshened  me  up  wonderfully, 
and,  as  they  naturally  did  not  expect  me  in 
the  City  on  my  wedding-day,  I  had  the  whole 
morning  to  myself,  and  decided  to  get  through 
it  by  taking  a  brisk  walk.  Before  starting,  I 
sent  a  bag  containing  my  wedding  garments  to 
the  Agricultural  Hall,  where  a  dressing  room 
had  been  reserved  for  me,  and  then  I  started, 
via  the  Seven  Sisters  Road,  for  Finsbury 
Park. 

As  I  passed  an  optician's  shop,  I  happened 
to  see,  hanging  in  the  window,  several  pairs 
of  coloured  spectacles,  one  of  which  I  went  in 
and  bought,  and  walked  on  with  a  sense  of  re- 
assurance. Through  the  medium  of  such 
glasses  a  lion  would  lose  much  of  his  terrors, 
and  would,  at  the  same  time,  be  unable  to  de- 
tect any  want  of  firmness  in  my  gaze;  indeed, 
if  a  wild  beast  can  actually  be  dominated  by  a 


"A  De  Castro  can  never  marry  a  Craven. 


J2  Love  among  the  Lions 

human  eye,  how  much  more  should  he  he  so 
when  that  eye  is  reinforced  hy  a  pair  of 
smoked  spectacles! 

My  recollection  of  the  rest  of  that  walk  is 
indistinct.  I  felt  no  distress,  only  a  kind  of 
stupor.  I  tried  to  fix  my  thoughts  on  Lurana, 
on  her  strange  beauty,  and  the  wondrous  fact 
that  in  a  very  few  hours  the  Ceremony,  which 
was  to  unite  us,  would  be,  at  all  events,  com- 
menced. But  at  times  I  had  a  pathetic  sense 
of  the  irony  which  decreed  that  I,  a  man 
of  simple  tastes  and  unenterprising  disposition, 
should  have  fallen  hopelessly  in  love  with  the 
only  young  woman  in  the  United  Kingdom 
capable  of  insisting  on  being  married  in  a  wild- 
beast  cage. 

It  seemed  hard,  and  I  remember  envying 
quite  ordinary  persons — butchers,  hawkers, 
errand-boys,  crossing-sweepers,  and  the  like, 
for  their  good  fortune  in  not  being  engaged  to 
spend  any  part  of  that  afternoon  in  a  den  of 
forest-bred  African  lions. 

However,  though  there  was  nothing  about 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  73 

the  intentions  of  the  Home  Office  in  the  early 
editions  of  the  evening  papers,  the  officials 
might  be  preparing  a  dramatic  coup  for  the 
last  moment.  I  was  determined  not  to  count 
upon  it— but  the  thought  of  it  kept  me  up 
until  the  time  when  I  had  to  think  of  return- 
ing, for  the  idea  of  flight  never  for  an  instant 
presented  itself  to  me.  I  was  on  parole  as  it 
were,  and  I  preferred  death  by  Lurana's  side 
to  dishonour  and  security  without  her. 

So  anxious  was  I  not  to  be  late,  and  also 
to  discover  whether  any  communication  from 
the  Home  Secretary  had  reached  the  manager, 
that  I  almost  hurried  back  to  Islington.  I 
was  admitted  to  the  Hall  by  a  private  entrance, 
and  shown  to  the  kind  of  unroofed  cabin  in 
which  I  was  to  change,  and  which,  being  under 
the  balcony  and  at  some  distance  from  the 
gangway  between  the  stables  and  the  ring, 
was  comparatively  private  and  secluded. 

Here,  after  asking  an  assistant  to  let  Mr. 
Niono  know  I  had  arrived,  and  would  like  to 
see  him,  I  waited.     The  Circus  had  begun,  as 


74  Love  among  the  Lions 

I  knew  from  the  facts  that  the  blare  of  the 
orchestrions  was  hushed,  and  that  a  brass  band 
overhead  began  and  left  off  with  the  abrupt- 
ness peculiar  to  Circus  music. 

Screens  of  board  and  canvas  hid  the  audi- 
torium from  view,  but  I  was  conscious  of  a 
vast  multitude  on  the  other  side,  vociferous 
and  in  the  best  of  humours. 

Between  the  strains  of  the  orchestra  and 
the  rattling  volleys  of  applause,  I  heard  the 
faint  stamping  and  trampling  from  the  stables, 
and,  a  sound  that  struck  a  chill  to  my  heart 
— the  prolonged  roar  of  exasperation  and 
ennui  which  could  only  proceed  from  a  bored 
lion. 

Then  there  was  a  rap  at  the  door,  which 
made  me  start,  and  Mono  burst  in. 

"  So  you've  found  your  way  here,"  he  said. 
"  Feeling  pretty  fit ?  That's  the  ticket!  The 
bride  ain't  arrived  yet,  so  you've  lots  of  time." 

"  You've  heard  nothing  from  the  Home 
Office  yet,  I  suppose?  "  I  asked. 

"  Xot  a  word — and,  between  you  and  me, 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  75 

I  made  sure  they  meant  to  crab  the  show. 
You've  the  devil's  own  luck!  " 

"I  have,  indeed,"  I  said,  with  feeling. 
"  Still,  we  mustn't  be  too  sure — they  may  stop 
us  yet!  " 

'''  They  may  try  it  on — but  our  men  have 
got  their  instructions.  If  they  did  come  now, 
they  wouldn't  get  near  the  ring  till  it  was 
all  over,  so  don't  you  worry  yourself  about 
that." 

I  said  everything  seemed  to  have  been  ad- 
mirably arranged.  "  By  the  way,"  I  added, 
"  where  have  you  put  the  tiger?  " 

"  Do  you  mean  old  Kajah?  "  he  said;  and 
I  replied  that  I  did  mean  old  Kajah. 

'  Why,  he's  all  right — in  the  cage  along 
with  the  others — where  did  you  suppose  he'd 
be— loose?" 

"I  particularly  requested,"  I  explained, 

"  that  he  might  be  put  somewhere  else  during 

the  wedding.     Mademoiselle  promised  that  it 

should  be  seen  to." 

"  It's  nothing  to  do  with  Ma'amsell,"  he 
11 


y6  Love  among  the  Lions 

said,  huffily;  "  she  don't  give  orders  here, 
Ma'amsell  don't." 

"  I  mean,  she  promised  to  mention  the  mat- 
ter to  you,"  I  said,  more  diplomatically. 

"  She  never  said  nothing  about  it  to  me," 
he  replied ;  "  I  expect  she  forgot." 

"  I  can  only  say  it  was  extremely  careless 
of  her,"  I  said.  "  The  fact  is,  I  have  my 
doubts  whether  that  tiger  is  to  be  trusted." 

"  Well,  you  never  can  trust  a  tiger  same 
as  you  can  a  lion,"  he  replied,  candidly,  "  so  I 
won't  deceive  you.  But  old  Rajah  ain't  so 
.particular  nasty — as  tigers  go." 

"  He  may  not  be,"  I  said,  "  but,  in  Miss  de 
Castro's  interests,  I  must  beg  you  to  shift  him 
into  some  other  cage  till  this  affair  is  over.  I 
can't  allow  her  to  run  any  unnecessary  risk." 

"  I  don't  say  you're  wrong,"  he  answered. 
"  I  wish  I'd  known  before,  I'd  have  asked  the 
gov'nor." 

"  Ask  him  now,"  I  urged,  "  surely  you 
can  put  the  tiger  back  in  the  hospital  cage  for 
an  hour  or  two." 


If  them  two  got  together,  there'd  be  the 
doose's  delight." 


78  Love  among  the  Lions 

"  The  Jaguar's  in  there,"  he  said;  "  he  was 
a  bit  off  colour,  so  we  put  him  there  this  morn- 
ing. And  if  them  two  got  together,  there' d 
be  the  doose's  delight." 

"  Couldn't  you  put  him  somewhere  else, 
then?  "  I  suggested. 

"  I  might  ha'  shunted  him  on  to  the  Arma- 
dillo at  a  pinch,"  he  said  thoughtfully,  "  he 
wouldn't  ha'  taken  any  notice,  but  the  gov'- 
nor  would  have  to  be  consulted  first, — and  he's 
engaged  in  the  ring.  Besides,  it  would  take 
too  much  time  to  move  old  Rajah  now — you 
must  put  up  with  him,  that's  all.  You'll  be 
right  enough  if  you  keep  your  head  and  stick 
close  to  me.  I've  taken  care  they've  all  had  a 
good  dinner.  I  say,"  he  broke  off  suddenly, 
"  you're  looking  uncommon  blue." 

"  I  don't  feel  nervous,"  I  said,  "  at  least, 
not  more  nervous  than  a  man  ought  to  feel 
who's  just  about  to  be  married.  If  you  mean 
to  suggest  that  I'm  going  to  show  the  white 
feather !  " 

"  Not  you,"  he  said,  "  what  would  you  get 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  79 

by  it,  you  know?  After  billing  this  affair  all 
over  the  town,  we  can't  afford  to  disappoint 
the  public,  and  if  I  saw  you  hanging  back — 
why,  I'm  blest  if  I  wouldn't  carry  you  into  the 
cage  myself." 

I  retorted  angrily  that  I  would  not  put  him 
to  that  inconvenience,  that  I  was  as  cool  as  he 
was,  and  that  I  did  not  understand  his  remark 
that  I  was  looking  blue. 

"  Lord,  what  a  touchy  chap  you  are!  "  he 
cried;  "  I  meant  looking  blue  about  the  jaw, 
that's  all.  If  I  was  you,  I'd  have  a  clean 
shave.  It's  enough  to  put  any  lady  off  if 
she  sees  you  with  a  chin  like  the  barrel  of  a 
musical-box." 

Somehow  I  had  omitted  to  shave  myself  as 
usual  that  morning,  intending  to  get  shaved 
later,  but  had  forgotten  to  look  for  a  hair- 
dresser's shop  during  my  walk. 

"  You'll  find  a  razor  in  that  drawer,"  he 
said,  "  if  you  don't  mind  making  shift  with 
cold  water,  for  there's  no  one  about  to  fetch 
you  any  hot.     Now  I  must  be  off  and  get  into 


8o 


Love  among  the  Lions 


my  own  togs.     Make  yourself  at  home,  you 
know.     I'll  give  you  another  call  later  on." 

Perhaps  the  razor  was  blunt,  perhaps  it 
was  the  cold  water,  anyhow  I  inflicted  a  gash 
on  the  extreme  point  of  my  chin  which  bled 
profusely.     I  dabbed  and  sluiced,  but  nothing 

I  could  do  seemed 
to  check  the  flow ;  it 
went  on,  obstinate 
and  irrepressible.  I 
was  still  forlornly 
mopping  when  Ni- 
ono  returned  in  his 
braided  jacket, 
tights  and  Hessian 
boots,  whistling  a 
tune. 

"  The  bride's 
just  driven  up,"  he 
announced,  "  looking  like  a  picture — what 
pluck  she's  got!  I  wish  I  was  in  your  shoes! 
Ma'amsell's  taken  her  to  her  room.  My  word, 
though,  you've  given  yourself  a  nasty  cut;  got 


I  was  forlornly  mopping  when 
Niono  returned. 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  81 

any  spider's  web  about  you?  Stops  it  in  no 
time." 

As  I  do  not  happen  to  go  about  festooned 
in  cobwebs,  his  suggestion  was  of  little  practi- 
cal value,  and  so  I  intimated  rather  sharply. 

"  Well,  don't  get  in  a  fluster,"  he  said, 
"  we're  only  a  couple  of  turns  off  the  Cage 
Act  as  it  is;  you  slip  into  them  spicy  lavender 
trousers  and  that  classy  frock-coat  of  yours  as 
quick  as  you  can,  and  I'll  try  if  I  can't  borrow 
a  bit  of  court-plaster  off  one  of  our  ladies." 

I  had  just  put  on  a  clean  shirt  when  he 
was  back  again ;  "  I  could  only  get  gold- 
beater's skin,"  he  remarked,  "  and  precious 
little  of  that,  so  be  careful  with  it.  And  the 
parson's  come,  and  would  like  to  have  a  look 
at  the  licence." 

I  handed  him  the  document,  and  tried  to 
apply  the  goldbeater's  skin,  which  curled  and 
shrivelled,  and  would  stick  to  nothing  but  my 
fingers — and  still  the  haemorrhage  continued. 

"  It's  all  over  your  shirt  nowl  "  said  the 
lion-tamer,  as  if  I  was  doing  it  on  purpose.     "  I 


82  Love  among  the  Lions 

wouldn't  have  had  this  happen  for  something. 
"  Why,  I've  known  'em  get  excited  with  the 
smell  of  blood,  let  alone  the  sight  of  it." 

"  Do  you  mean  the  lions?  "  I  inquired, 
with  a  faint  sick  sensation. 

"  Well,  it  was  the  tiger  my  mind  was  run- 
ning on  more,"  was  his  gloomy  reply. 

My  own  mind  began  to  run  on  the  tiger 
too,  and  a  most  unpleasant  form  of  mental 
exercise  it  was. 

"  After  all,"  said  Niono  with  an  optimism 
that  sounded  a  trifle  forced,  "  there's  no  saying. 
He  mayn't  spot  it.     None  of  'em  mayn't." 

"But  what  do  you  think  yourself? ':  I 
could  not  help  asking. 

"  I  couldn't  give  an  opinion  till  we  get  in- 
side," he  answered,  "  but  we'll  have  the  red 
hot  irons  handy  in  case  he  tries  on  any  of  his 
games.  And  if  you  can't  stop  that  chin  of 
yours,"  he  added,  taking  a  wrapper  from  his 
own  neck  and  tossing  it  to  me,  "  you'd  better 
hide  it  in  this — they'll  only  think  you've  got 
a  sore  throat  or  something.     But  do  hurry  up. 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  83 

I'm  just  going  to  see  the  old  elephant  put  in 
the  shafts,  and  then  I'll  come  back  for  you,  so 
don't  dawdle." 

Once  more  I  was  alone;  I  felt  so  chilly 
that  I  put  on  my  old  coat  and  waistcoat  again, 
for  I  did  not  venture  to  touch  my  new  suit 
until  my  chin  left  off  bleeding,  and  it  seemed 
inexhaustible,  though  the  precious  minutes 
were  slipping  by  faster  and  faster. 

The  great  building  had  grown  suddenly 
silent;  I  could  almost  feel  the  air  vibrating 
with  the  suppressed  excitement  of  the  vast  un- 
seen crowd  which  was  waiting  patiently  for 
the  lions,  and  Lurana — and  me. 

Soon  I  heard  a  voice — probably  a  men- 
agerie assistant's — in  the  passage  outside,  and 
presently  a  shuffling  tread  approaching,  and 
then  I  perceived  towering  above  the  wooden 
partition,  a  huge  grey  bulk,  ridged  and  fis- 
sured like  a  mountain  side,  and  touched  where 
the  light  fell  on  it  with  a  mouldy  bloom — it 
was  the  elephant  on  his  way  to  be  attached  to 

the  lion-cage! 
12 


84  Love  among  the  Lions 

I  stared  helplessly  up  at  his  uncouth  pro- 
file, with  the  knobby  forehead  worn  to  a  shiny 
black,  and  the  sardonic  little  eye  that  met  mine 
with  a  humorous  intelligence,  as  though  recom- 
mending me  to  haste  to  the  wedding. 

lie  plodded  past,  and  I  realised  that  I  had 
no  time  to  change  now;  my  new  wedding  suit 
was  a  useless  extravagance — I  must  go  to  the 
altar  as  I  was.  Niono  would  be  back  to  fetch 
me  in  a  moment.  Lurana  would  never  for- 
give me  for  keeping  her  waiting. 

Hastily  I  wound  the  muffler  round  my 
neck  till  my  chin  was  hidden  in  its  folds,  and 
put  on  my  hat.  Could  I  have  mislaid  the 
spectacles?  No,  thank  heaven,  they  were  in 
the  pocket  of  my  great  coat.  I  put  them  on, 
and  my  wedding  toilet — such  as  it  was — was 
complete. 

Then  I  cast  a  hurried  glance  at  myself  in 
a  tarnished  mirror  nailed  against  the  match- 
boarding,  and  staggered  back  in  dismay.  I 
was  not  merely  unrecognisable;  I  was — what 
is  a  thousand  times  worse — ridiculous ! 


A  Matrimonial   Experience 


85 


Yes,  no  bridegroom  in  the  world  could 
hope  to  make  a  creditable  appearance  with  his 
nose  only  just  showing  above  a  worsted  com- 
forter and  his  eyes  hidden  behind  a  pair  of 
smoked  spectacles.  It 
was  enough  to  make 
any  lion  roar — the  au- 
dience would  receive 
me  with  howls ! 

I  had  been  pre- 
pared— I  was  still  pre- 
pared —  for  Lurana's 
dear  sake,  to  face  the 
deadliest  peril.  But  to 
do  so  with  a  total  loss 
of  dignity;  to  be  irre- 
sistibly comic  in  the  su- 
preme crisis,  to  wrestle 
with  wild  beasts  to  the 
accompaniment  of 
peals  of  Homeric 
laughter — would  any  lover  in  the  world  be 
capable  of  heroism  such  as  that? 


My  wedding  toilette  was 
complete. 


86  Love  among  the  Lions 

True,  I  might  remove  the  spectacles — but 
in  that  case  I  could  not  trust  my  nerve;  or 
I  might  take  off  the  muffler,  but  then  I  could 
not  trust  the  tiger.  And  in  either  case  I 
should  be  courting  not  only  my  own  destruc- 
tion, but  that  of  one  whose  life  was  far  dearer 
to  me  than  my  own. 

I  asked  myself  solemnly  whether  I  had 
the  right  to  endanger  her  safety,  simply  from 
a  selfish  unwillingness  to  appear  grotesque  in 
her  eyes  and  those  of  the  audience.  The  an- 
swer was  what  every  rightminded  reader  will 
have  foreseen. 

And,  seeing  that  the  probability  was  that 
Lurana  would  absolutely  decline  to  go  through 
the  ceremony  at  all  with  the  guy  I  now  ap- 
peared (for  had  she  not  objected  even  to  my 
assuming  a  green  shade,  which  was,  compara- 
tively, becoming),  it  was  obvious  that  only  one 
alternative  remained,  and  that  I  took. 

Cautiously  opening  the  door  of  my  cabin, 
I  looked  up  and  down  the  passage.  At  one  end 
I  could  just  see  the  elephant  surrounded  by  a 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  87 

crowd  of  grooms  and  helpers,  who  were  pre- 
sumably harnessing  him  to  the  cage  and  were 
too  far  away  or  too  much  engaged  to  notice 
me.  At  the  other  were  a  few  deserted  stalls 
and  rifle-galleries,  whose  proprietors  had  all 
gone  to  swell  the  crowd  of  spectators  who  were 
waiting  to  see  as  much  as  they  could  of  my 
wedding,  and  it  began  to  seem  likely  that  they 
would  see  very  little  indeed. 

I  was  about  to  make  for  the  nearest  exit 
when  I  remembered  that  it  would  probably  be 
guarded,  so,  assuming  as  far  as  possible  the 
air  of  an  ordinary  visitor,  I  slipped  quietly  up 
a  broad  flight  of  stairs,  on  each  of  which  was 
a  recommendation  to  try  somebody's  "  Pink 
Pills  for  Pale  People,"  and  gained  the  upper 
gallery  without  attracting  attention. 

I  felt  instinctively  that  my  best  chance  of 
escaping  detection  was  to  mingle  with  the 
crowd,  and  besides,  I  was  naturally  curious  to 
know  how  the  affair  would  end,  so,  seeing  a 
door  and  pigeon-hole  with  the  placard  "  Bal- 
cony Seats,  Sixpence,"  I  went  in,  and  was 


88  Love  among  the  Lions 

lucky  enough  to  secure  the  only  cane  bottom 
chair  left  in  the  back  row. 

After  removing  my  spectacles,  I  had  a 
fairly  good  view  of  the  ring  below,  with  its 
brown  tan  enclosed  by  a  white  border  cush- 
ioned along  the  top  in  faded  crimson.  The 
reserved  stalls  were  all  full,  and  beyond  the 
barriers,  the  crowd  swayed  and  surged  in  a 
dense  black  mass.  Nobody  was  inside  the 
ring  except  a  couple  of  nondescript  grooms  in 
scarlet  liveries,  who  hung  about  with  an  air  of 
growing  embarrassment.  The  orchestra  op- 
posite was  reiterating  "  The  Maiden's  Prayer  " 
with  a  perseverance  that  at  length  got  upon 
the  nerves  of  the  audience,  which  began  to 
stamp  suggestively. 

"  It's  a  swindle,"  said  a  husky  man,  who 
was  obviously  inclined  to  scepticism,  and 
also  sherry,  "  a  reg'lar  take  in !  There  won't 
be  nobody  married  in  a  lion's  cage — I've  said 
so  all  along." 

"Oh,  it's  too  soon  to  say  that  yet!'  I 
replied  soothingly,  though  I  had  reasons  for 


A  Matrimonial   Experience 


89 


being  of  the  same  opinion,  "  they're  a  little 
behind  time,  that's  all." 

"  I  dunno  what  it  is  they're  behind,"  he 
said, — "  but  they  don't  mean  comin'  out. 
There,  what  did  I  tell  you?  " 

One  of  the  grooms,  obeying  instructions 
from  without,  had 
just  gone  to  the  In- 
dicator -  post,  re- 
moved the  number 
corresponding  with 
that  of  the  wedding- 


programme, 


and 


'It's  a  swindle." 


substituted  another, 

which  was  the  signal  for  a  general  uproar. 

A  carpet  was  spread  for  a  performance  by 
a  "  Bender,"  who  made  his  appearance  in  a 
tight  suit  of  green  spangles,  as  the  "  Marvel- 
lous Boy  Serpent,"  and  endeavoured  to  wile 
away  the  popular  discontent  by  writhing  in 
and  out  of  the  rungs  of  a  chair,  and  making  a 
glittering  pincushion  of  himself.  In  vain,  for 
they  would  have  none  of  him,  and  the  poor 


ns 


90  Love  among  the  Lio 

youth  had  to  retire  at  last  amidst  a  storm  of 
undeserved  hissing. 

Another  long  wait  followed,  and  the  in- 
dignation grew  louder.  So  infectious  is  the 
temper  of  a  mob  that  I  actually  caught  myself 
growing  impatient,  and  banging  loudly  on  the 
floor  with  my  umbrella — just  as  my  neigh- 
bours were  doing ! 

All  at  once,  to  my  extreme  bewilderment, 
the  stamping  and  hooting  changed  to  tumul- 
tuous applause,  the  band  began  to  bray  out 
an  air  that  was  apparently  intended  for  "  The 
Voice  that  Breathed,"  the  barriers  were 
thrown  open,  and  the  great  elephant  lumbered 
into  the  arena  drawing  the  cage. 

The  brute  had  an  enormous  wedding  fa- 
vour attached  to  each  side  of  his  tusks,  and  all 
the  animals  in  the  cage,  down  to  the  very 
tiger,  were  wearing  garlands  of  artificial 
orange-blossom,  a  touch  of  sentiment  which 
seemed  to  go  straight  to  the  hearts  of  the 
people. 

But  even  while  I  looked  down  into  the 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  91 

cage,  with  much  the  same  reflection  as  that  of 
John  Bradford  of  old,  that  there,  but  for  spe- 
cial grace,  I  might  myself  be  figuring,  I  was 
astounded  by  the  audacity  of  the  management. 

Could  they  really  imagine  that  an  intelli- 
gent and  enlightened  audience  like  this  would 
be  pacified  by  anything  less  than  the  spectacle 
they  had  paid  to  witness — a  marriage  solem- 
nised in  a  den  of  lions?  And  how  did  they 
propose  to  perform  a  ceremony  at  which,  as 
they  must  be  fully  aware  by  this  time,  the 
bridegroom  would  be  conspicuous  by  his  ab- 
sence? No,  it  might  be  magnificent,  but  it 
was  not  business. 

I  was  still  speculating,  when  a  kind  of 
small  procession  entered  the  arena.  First  came 
Mr.  Sawkins,  with  the  Eeverend  Mnian,  look- 
ing rather  like  a  cheap  Cranmer;  next  was  a 
smart-looking  person  in  a  well-cut  frock-coat 
and  lavender  trousers  that  I  seemed  to  have 
seen  before.  It  was  my  wedding  suit;  the 
wearer  had  gummed  on  a  mustache  and  short 

side-whiskers  which  gave  him  a  spurious  re- 
13 


92  Love  among  the   Lions 

semblance  to  myself,  but  if  nobody  else  knew 
him,  I  did — it  was  Onion,  the  Lion  King! 

And  the  next  moment,  I  received  a  still 
greater  shock,  as  Professor  Polkinghorne  fol- 
lowed with  the  lofty  bearing  of  a  Virginius, 
and  on  his  arm  was  a  slender  shrinking  figure, 
which,  in  spite  of  the  veil  she  wore,  I  knew  too 
well  could  be  no  other  than  Lurana. 

"There's  the  bridegroom,  d'ye  see!"  ex- 
plained my  hoarse  neighbour ;  "  he's  a  deal 
better  lookin'  than  the  pictures  they've  drawed 
of  him  in  the  papers.  But  he's  as  pale  as  plas- 
ter, he'll  back  out  of  it  at  the  last  moment — 
you  just  see  if  he  don't!  " 

But  I  knew  Niono  better.  I  remembered 
his  open  admiration  of  Lurana,  his  envy  at 
my  good  fortune,  I  felt  convinced  that  his  pal- 
lor was  merely  due  to  the  absence  of  rouge  and 
the  fear  that  he  would  not  succeed  in  his  dar- 
ing imposture.  Lor  I  saw  now  that  he  had 
been  planning  to  supplant  me  from  the  first; 
hence  his  attempts  to  shake  my  nerve,  and, 
when  they  failed,  hence  his  treacherous  loan 


A  kind  of  small  procession  entered  the  arena. 


94  Love  among  the   Lions 

of  a  blunt  razor.  He  was  staking  everything 
on  the  chance  that  the  bride's  natural  agitation, 
and  the  thickness  of  her  veil  would  prevent 
her  from  suspecting  that  he  was  a  fraudulent 
bridegroom  until  the  ceremony  was  over,  while 
the  audience,  not  expecting  to  see  a  Lion  King 
in  a  tall  hat,  would  be  equally  deceived. 

"  Pore  young  things!  "  said  a  stout  female 
in  front,  with  a  nodding  feather  in  her  bon- 
net; "  it's  to  be  'oped  there  won't  be  any  un- 
pleasantness, I'm  sure.  I'm  'alf  sorry  I 
came." 

There  was  time  even  yet ;  I  had  but  to  rise, 
denounce  the  usurper,  and  take  my  rightful 
place  at  Lurana's  side.  I  felt  strongly  im- 
pelled to  do  so;  I  actually  stood  up  and  tried 
to  speak.  But  I  realised  that  it  was  hopeless 
to  attempt  to  make  my  feeble  voice  heard 
above  the  thunders  of  applause,  even  if  excite- 
ment and  emotion  had  not  rendered  me  speech- 
less. Besides,  what  satisfactory  explanation  of 
my  present  position  could  I  offer?  I  sat  down 
again  with  a  sense  of  spell-bound  helplessness. 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  95 

I  looked  on  as  the  great  arc-lamps  were 
lowered,  hissing  and  buzzing,  to  the  level  of 
the  cage,  and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Skipworth 
prepared  to  ascend  the  inverted  white  tub  that 
was  to  serve  him  as  a  reading-desk,  and  the  un- 
scrupulous Onion  took  the  bride  by  the  hand 
and  conducted  her  to  the  steps  which  led  to  the 
door  of  the  lion-cage. 

"  They're  never  goin'  in  among  all  them 
lions  without  nobody  with  them!  "  cried  the 
stout  lady.  "  It's  downright  temptin'  of 
Providence,  that  it  is!  " 

"  Don't  you  be  afraid,"  said  the  cynical 
man.  "  They  ain't  goin'  in.  Just  look  at 
that  now!  " 

As  he  spoke  two  persons  in  plain  clothes, 
who  had  apparently  been  waiting  for  this  mo- 
ment, stepped  over  the  barrier  from  the  shil- 
ling stalls  into  the  ring,  and,  from  their  ges- 
tures, seemed  to  be  insisting  that  the  wedding- 
should  not  take  place  inside  the  cage  at  all 
events. 

There  was  an  animated  dispute  in  the  ring; 


gS  Love  among  the  Lions 

Niono  blustered,  Lurana  pleaded,  Sawkins  ex- 
postulated, and  the  professor  and  Archibald 
Chuck  (who  had  contrived  to  push  himself 
into  the  party)  argued,  while  Miss  Rakestraw 
filled  page  after  page  of  her  reporter's  note- 
book, and  the  Rev.  Xinian  sat  upon  his  tub 
with  meekly  folded  hands,  looking  more  than 
ever  like  a  martyr  who  knew  himself  to  be  in- 
combustible. 

The  audience  booed,  and  hissed,  and  yelled 
with  natural  rage  and  disappointment;  the 
lions  remained  unmoved,  blinking  behind 
their  bars,  with  crossed  forepaws,  and  an  air 
of  serene  indifference. 

"  I  told  ver  there  wasn't  going  to  be  no 
blooming  wedding!  "  said  my  husky  friend. 
"  It's  a  reg'lar  put-np  job,  that's  what  it  is!  ': 
It  was  possible;  but  whether  the  inter- 
rupters of  the  proceedings  were  hired  supers 
or  genuine  officials,  it  was  equally  clear  that 
there  would  be  no  wedding  inside  the  cage. 

How  bitterly  I  regretted  that  by  yielding 
to  an  irresistible  impulse  I  had  forfeited  the 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  97 

right  to  stand  by  Lurana's  side  at  this  supreme 
moment !  I  could  have  done  so  with  absolute 
impunity;  I  should  have  won  a  lifelong  repu- 
tation for  courage ;  Lurana  herself  would  have 
owned  that  I  had  done  all  that  was  possible  to 
gratify  her  whim,  and  would  have  consented  to 
marry  me  in  the  orthodox  fashion. 

Whereas,  here  I  was,  separated  from  her 
by  impassable  barriers,  in  the  ignominious  se- 
clusion of  a  back  seat !  However,  this  official 
prohibition  had  at  least  solved  one  of  my  dif- 
ficulties; it  had  rendered  it  unnecessary  for 
me  to  interfere  personally. 

The  storm  of  indignation  rose  to  a  hurri- 
cane when  the  entire  wedding  party  filed  out 
of  the  arena  with  the  officials,  doubtless  to  dis- 
cuss the  matter  in  greater  privacy. 

The  stout  lady  with  the  feather  was  par- 
ticularly annoyed.  "  Why  shouldn't  the  two 
young  parties  be  allowed  to  please  them- 
selves? "  she  wanted  to  know.  "  It  was  their 
wedding,  not  the  Government's.  But  it  was 
always  the  way  whenever  she  came  out  for  a 


98  Love  among  the  Lions 

little  amusement.  Somethink  was  bound  to 
go  wrong." 

Another  long  interval,  during  which  the 
wildest  disorder  reigned  unchecked,  the  crowd, 
with  the  irrationality  of  an  angry  mob,  actu- 
ally throwing  pieces  of  orange-peel  at  the  un- 
offending lions  as  the  only  creatures  within  the 
range  of  their  displeasure.  The  hubbub  was 
at  its  height  when  Sawkins  reappeared  and 
held  up  his  hand  for  some  time  in  vain  be- 
fore he  could  obtain  a  hearing.  Then  he  ad- 
dressed the  audience  as  follows: 

"  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  cer- 
tain individuals  claiming  to  represent  the 
Home  Office  and  the  London  County  Coun- 
cil "  (here  there  were  groans,  and  my  neigh- 
bour remarked  disgustedly,  that  "  that  was 
what  came  of  returning  those  Progressives  ") 
"  have  protested  against  a  wedding  in  the  cage 
as  involving  danger  to  the  principal  parties 
concerned."  (Loud  cries  of  "Shame!  "  and 
general  uproar.)  "  I  have  the  honour  and 
pleasure  to  announce  that  we  have  succeeded 


Then  he  addressed  the  audience. 


14 


ioo  Love  among  the   Lions 

in  convincing  these  gentlemen  that  the  pro- 
posed ceremony  is  no  more  open  to  objection 
than  the  ordinary  performance,  and  that  they 
have  no  legal  power  to  prohibit  it.  Conse- 
quently the  marriage  will  now  be  celebrated  in 
the  cage  of  forest-bred  African  lions,  as  ad- 
vertised." 

The  revulsion  of  feeling  after  this  most 
unexpected  announcement  was  instant  and 
tremendous;  all  hearts  seemed  touched  with 
generous  compunction  for  their  uncharitable 
suspicions,  and  the  hall  rang  with  tumultu- 
ous cheers. 

For  myself,  I  could  not  share  the  general 
exhilaration.  This  preposterous  wedding  was 
permitted  after  all,  and,  unless  Lurana's  heart 
failed  her  at  the  critical  instant,  she  would  in- 
evitably be  lost  to  me  for  ever !  I  might  still 
interpose;  indeed  I  should  have  done  so  at  all 
costs,  but  for  a  timely  remembrance  that  no 
action  I  took  now  would  regain  her. 

She  might  have  been  in  ignorance  before 
— but  in  the  course  of  this  delay  she  must  have 


A    Matrimonial   Experience  101 

learnt  that  I  bad  failed  her.  she  must  have  ac- 
cepted the  lion-tamer  as  a  substitute,  and,  even 
if  I  were  to  present  myself,  she  would  only 
inform  me  that  my  place  was  already  filled.  I 
had  too  much  spirit  to  risk  a  public  snub  of 
that  kind,  so  I  stayed  where  I  was.  It  cannot 
have  fallen  to  many  men's  lot  to  look  on  as 
passive  spectators  at  their  own  wedding — but 
what  choice  had  I? 

There  was  a  deathlike  silence  as  JSTiono 
slipt  the  bolt  and  gallantly  handed  the  bride 
into  the  cage.  She  stepped  in  as  collectedly 
as  if  it  had  been  an  ordinary  Registry  Office, 
and  the  great  tawny  beasts  retreated  sullenly 
to  the  other  end,  where  they  stood  huddled  in 
a  row,  while  the  Rev.  ISTinian,  mounting  his 
tub,  read  an  abbreviated  form  of  service  in  a 
voice  which  was  quite  inaudible  in  the  bal- 
cony. 

I  tried  to  turn  my  eyes  away  from  the  scene 
that  was  taking  place  in  that  grim  cage,  and 
the  two  figures  that  were  so  calmly  confront- 
ing those  formidable  brutes — but  I  felt  com- 


102  Love  among  the  Lions 

pelled  to  look.  And  it  was  mortifying  to  see 
how  trifling  after  all  was  the  danger  they  in- 
curred. I  am  afraid  I  almost  wished  that  one 
of  the  animals  would  give  some  trouble — 1 
don't  mean  of  course  by  any  actual  attack — 
but  by  just  enough  display  of  ferocity  to  make 
Lurana  understand  what  they  might  do. 

But  they  never  even  attempted  to  cross  the 
pole  which  had  been  thrust  across  the  cage  as 
a  barrier.  I  was  never  told  there  would  be 
a  pole!  They  looked  on,  mystified — as  well 
they  might  be — by  proceedings  to  which  they 
were  totally  unaccustomed,  but  still  impressed, 
and  sleepily  solemn.  Even  the  tiger  behaved 
with  irreproachable  decorum. 

I  understood  then  what  Onion  had  been 
careful  not  to  mention;  their  food  had  been 
doctored  in  some  way.  If  I  had  only  known ! 
Anybody  could  beard  a  hocussed  lion! 

And  soon  the  words  which  made  that 
couple  man  and  wife  were  pronounced,  or 
rather  mumbled — for  the  Rev.  Mnian  would 
have  been  none  the  worse  for  a  course  of  les- 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  103 

sons  from  old  Polkingliorne — and  the  newly- 
wedded  pair  came  out  of  the  cage  without  so 
much  as  a  scratch,  to  the  triumphant  blare  of 
the  "Wedding  March."  There  was  frantic 
applause  as  the  Professor  embraced  the  bride 
with  an  emotion  that  struck  me  as  overdone, 
while  the  Rev.  Ninian,  Miss  Rakestraw,  and 
Chuck  offered  their  congratulations  and  Mr. 
Sawkins  presented  the  happy  couple  with  a  sil- 
ver biscuit-box  (it  may  have  been  electro- 
plated), and  a  Tantalus  spirit  case. 

But  for  that  unfortunate  slip  of  the  razor, 
those  gifts  would  have  been  mine — but  I  was 
in  no  mood  to  think  of  that  just  then,  when  I 
had  lost  what  was  so  infinitely  more  precious. 

I  looked  on  dully  till  the  party  left  the 
arena,  declining  with  excellent  taste  to  return 
in  answer  to  repeated  calls  and  bow  their 
acknowledgments,  and  then,  as  the  electric 
lights  were  hoisted  up  again  and  the  elephant 
was  led  in  to  remove  the  lion's  cage,  I  thought 
it  was  time  to  go. 

It  was  all  over;  there  was  nothing  to  stay 


104  Love  among  the   Lions 

for  now,  and  most  of  the  people  were  leaving, 
so  I  joined  the  crowd  which  streamed  down 
the  staircase  and  along  the  broad  passage  to  the 
main  exit.  Once  in  the  open  air,  I  hurried 
blindly  past  the  flaring  shops  in  the  High 
Street,  neither  knowing  nor  caring  where  I 
was  going,  with  only  one  thought  possessing 
my  numbed  brain — how  different  it  might  all 
have  been  if  only  things  had  happened  other- 
wise! 

Wherever  I  looked  I  saw  Lurana's  lovely 
scornful  face  and  flashing  eyes  painted  with 
torturing  vividness  on  the  murky  air.  How 
flat  and  stale  all  existence  would  be  for  me 
henceforth!  Life  with  Lurana  might  not 
have  been  all  sunshine;  it  might  have  had  its 
storms,  even  its  tempests — but  at  least  it  would 
never  have  been  dull ! 

I  cursed  the  treachery  which  had  induced 
her  to  link  herself  for  life  with  a  lion-tamer. 
Happy,  I  knew  she  could  not  be,  for  of  one 
thing  I  was  confident — she  loved  me;  not  per- 
haps with  the  passionate  single-hearted  devo- 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  105 

tion  I  felt  for  her,  but  still  with  a  love  she 
would  never  feel  for  any  other.  Perhaps  she 
was  already  beginning  to  repent  her  desertion 
of  me,  and  wishing  she  could  undo  that  rash 
irrevocable  act. 

I  was  pounding  up  Highgate  Hill,  with  no 
object  beyond  escaping  by  active  motion  the 
demons  of  recollection  and  regret  that  haunted 
me — when  suddenly,  as  I  gained  the  top  of  the 
hill,  a  thought  struck  me.  Was  the  act  ir- 
revocable after  all?  "Was  it  so  absolutely  cer- 
tain that  this  Onion  had  the  legal  right  to 
claim  her  as  his  wife  ? 

He  had  certainly  personated  me.  Had  he 
not  borrowed,  not  only  my  frock  coat,  and 
trousers,  but  also  my  name  for  the  ceremony? 
If  he  had,  and  if  Lurana  was,  as  she  could 
hardly  help  being,  aware  of  the  fact,  it  did 
not  require  much  acquaintance  with  the  law  to 
know  that  there  was  a  chance,  at  all  events,  of 
getting  the  Court  to  declare  the  marriage  null 
and  void. 

But  he  might  have  been  married  in  his  own 


106  Love  among  the  Lions 

name ;  I  could  not  tell ;  owing  to  the  indistinct- 
ness of  Mr.  Skipworth's  utterance,  only  Lurana 
or  those  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood 
could  say.  I  must  know  that  first;  I  must 
examine  the  register,  if  there  was  one,  and 
then,  if — if  Lurana  wished  to  be  saved,  I 
might  be  able  to  save  her. 

I  knew  that  a  sort  of  wedding  high-tea  had 
been  prepared  at  Canonbury  Square,  where 
the  whole  party  would  be  assembled  by  this 
time,  and  I  hurried  back  to  Canonbury  Square 
as  fast  as  the  tramcar  would  take  me.  My 
blood  was  roused;  she  would  not  be  Xiono's 
wife  if  I  could  prevent  it.  I  would  snatch  her 
from  him,  even  if  I  had  to  do  so  across  the 
wedding-cake ! 

But  when  I  reached  the  well-known  door 
and  raised  the  familiar  knocker — a  fist  clutch- 
ing a  cast-iron  wreath — in  my  trembling  fin- 
gers, there  were  no  sounds  of  festivity  within; 
the  house  was  dark  and  deserted. 

I  waited  in  the  bitter  January  air;  the 
street  lamp  opposite — the  identical  one  under 


A  Matrimonial  Experience  107 

which  Lurana  had  first  agreed  to  marry  me — 


flickered  at  every  gust  of  the  night  wind,  as 
though  troubled  on  my  account.  They  must 
have  transferred  the  feast  to  the  Circus,  or  to 
some  adjacent  restaurant;  evidently  there  was 
no  one  there. 

I  was  just  turning  hopelessly  away,  when 
I  heard  the  bolt  being  withdrawn,  and  the  door 
was  opened  by  a  maid. 

"  Where  is  your  mistress?  "  I  asked  breath- 
lessly. I  could  not  bring  myself  to  ask  for 
Lurana  as  Mrs.  Onion. 

"  In  the  drawing-room,  upstairs,"  was  the 
unexpected  reply,  "  with  the  'istericks." 

So  long  as  she  was  not  with  Xiono,  I  cared 
little;  I  bounded  up,  and  found  her  alone. 

As  I  entered,  she  raised  her  flushed,  tear- 
stained  face  from  the  shabby  sofa  on  which 
she  had  thrown  herself.  "  Go  away!  ''  she 
cried,  "  why  do  you  come  near  me  now?  You 
have  no  right — do  you  hear? — no  right!  ' 

"  I   know,"    I   said   humbly   enough,    "  I 

deserve    this,    no    doubt;    and    yet,    if    you 
15 


108  Love  among  the  Lions 

knew  all,  you  would  find  excuses  for  me, 
Lurana!  " 

"  None,  Theodore,"  she  said ;  "  if  you  had 
really  loved  me,  you  would  never  have  de- 
serted me!  " 

"I  could  not  help  myself,"  I  retorted; 
"  and  really,  Lurana,  if  it  comes  to  deser- 
tion  !  " 

"  Ah,  what  is  the  use  of  wrangling  about 
whose  fault  it  was,"  she  moaned,  "  now,  when 
we  have  both  wrecked  our  lives!  At  least,  I 
know  I've  wrecked  minel  Why  was  I  so  in- 
sane as  to  set  my  heart  on  our  being  married  in 
a  den  of  disgusting  lions?  If  you  had  only 
been  firmer,  Theodore,  instead  of  giving  way 
as  you  did!  " 

"  At  least  it  was  not  cowardice,"  I  said. 
"  When  I  show  you  the  state  of  my 
chin !  " 

"Theodore!"  she  cried,  with  a  little 
scream,  "  you  are  hurt!  Tell  me;  was  it  the 
tiger?" 

"  It  was  not  the  tiger,"  I  said.     "  Never 


If  only  you  had  been  firmer,  Theodore." 


iio  Love  among  the  Lions 

mind  that  now.  I  was  betrayed  by  that  in- 
fernal Onion,  Lurana.  I  never  knew  till  it 
was  too  late — you  do  believe  me,  don't  you? '; 

"I  do;  Ave  were  both  deceived,  Theodore. 
I  should  never  have  acted  as  I  did  if  that 
horrid  Frenchwoman  hadn't  told  me — Oh, 
what  would  I  not  give  if  all  this  had  never 
been?  " 

"  If  you  are  truly  sincere,"  I  began,  "  in 
wishing  this  unlucky  marriage  cancelled " 

"If  I  am!  Are  you,  Theodore?  Oh,  if 
only  there  is  a  way!  " 

"  There  may  be,  Lurana.  It  all  depends 
on  whether  my  name  was  used  at  the  ceremony 
or  not.     Try  to  recollect  and  tell  me." 

"  But  I  can't,  Theodore.  You  were  there 
— you  must  know!  " 

"  Mr.  Skip  worth  wouldn't  speak  up;  and  I 
was  much  farther  away  than  you  were." 

"  Than  I  was,  Theodore !  But — but  I 
wasn't  there  at  all!  " 

"  ISTot  present  at  your  own  wedding? "  I 
cried,  "  but  I  saw  you!  " 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  1 1 1 

"  It  was  not  me !  "  she  said,  "  it  was  Mile. 
Leonie.     Is  it  possible  you  didn't  know? ': 

My  heart  leaped.  "  For  heaven's  sake, 
explain,  Lurana;  let  us  have  no  more  conceal- 
ments." 

"  When  I  arrived,"  she  said,  "  Mademoi- 
selle  explained  about  the  tiger,  and  how  sorry 
she  was  it  was  too  late  to  remove  it,  since  she 
understood  I  had  au  antipathy  to  tigers;  and  I 
said,  not  at  all,  I  adored  tigers,  so  she  took  me 
to  see  the  cage,  and  I — I  only  tried  to  tickle 
the  tiger,  but  he  was  so  dreadfully  cross  about 
it — I  nearly  fainted.  And  she  said  it  was  sim- 
ply madness  for  me  to  go  in,  and  that  you  were 
every  bit  as  frightened  as  I  was." 

"She  had  no  right  to  say  that,"  I  said; 
"  it's  absolutely  untrue !  " 

"  I  know,  Theodore,"  she  replied ;  "  you 
have  proved  that  you,  at  least,  are  no  coward 
— but  I  believed  her  then.  And  I  wrote  you 
a  line  to  say  that  I  had  altered  my  mind,  and 
did  not  think  it  right  to  expose  you  or  myself 
to  such  danger,  and  that  I  would  wait  for  you 


112  Love  among  the   Lions 

by  the  Myddelton  Statue.  She  promised  to 
give  you  the  letter  at  once!  " 

"  I  never  got  it,"  I  said. 

"  No,  she  took  care  you  should  not.  And 
I  waited  for  you — how  long  I  don't  know — 
hours,  it  seemed — but  you  never  came!  Then 
I  saw  the  people  beginning  to  come  out,  and — 
and  I  went  across  and  asked  someone  whether 
there  had  been  any  marriage  or  not,  and  he 
said,  '  Yes,  it  had  gone  off  without  any  acci- 
dent; the  bridegroom  looked  pale  but  was 
plucky  enough,  and  so  was  the  bride,  though 
he  couldn't  tell  how  she  looked,  because  of  her 
veil.'  And  then,  of  course,  I  knew  that  the 
deceitful  cat  had  taken  my  place  and  managed 
to  make  you  marry  her !  And  at  first  I  wanted 
to  go  back  and  stab  her  with  my  hat  pin,  but  I 
hadn't  one  sharp  enough,  so  I  came  home 
instead.  And  oh,  Theodore,  I  do  feel  so 
ashamed!  After  boasting  so  much  of  my 
Spanish  blood,  and  taunting  you  with  being 
afraid  as  I  did,  to  think  that  you  should  have 
shown  the  truer  courage  after  all !  ': 


A   Matrimonial  Experience  1 13 

I  could  not  triumph  over  her  then;  I  was 
too  happy.  "  Courage,  my  darling,  is  a  mere- 
ly relative  quality,"  I  said.  "  Heaven  forbid 
that  we  should  be  held  accountable  for  the  state 
of  our  nerves — even  the  bravest  of  us." 

"  But  this  marriage,  Theodore,"  she  said, 
"  what  can  you  do  to  have  it  set  aside? ': 

"  Do!  Nothing,"  I  replied;  "  after  what 
you  have  told  me,  I  no  longer  care  to  try." 

"  You  despise  me,  then,  because  I  broke 
down  at  the  critical  moment?  " 

"  JSTot  at  all.  I  can  never  be  grateful 
enough  to  you!  " 

"  Grateful !  Then  do  you  mean  to  say  you 
prefer  that  coarse,  middle-aged,  lion-taming 
person  to  me,  Theodore?  " 

"  Lurana,"  I  said,  "  prepare  yourself  for  a 
great  surprise — a  pleasant  surprise.  If  any- 
body is  now  that  lady's  lawful  husband  it  is 
Niono — not  I;  and  a  very  suitable  match  too," 
I  added  (I  saw  now  why  the  authorities  had 
been  compelled  to  waive  their  objections  to  it). 
"  The  fact  is,  I  never  went  into  the  cage  at  all." 


114  Love  among  the  Lions 

"  You  didn't  go  into  the  cage,  Theodore ! 
but  how,  why? ': 

"  Do  you  imagine,"  I  asked,  "  can  you 
really  suppose  I  should  be  capable  of  entering 
that  cage  with  anybody  but  yourself,  Lurana? 
How  little  you  know  me!  Of  course  I  de- 
clined! " 

"  But  you  didn't  know  I  had  run  away 
then,  Theodore!  Why,  you  thought  only  a 
few  minutes  ago  J  was  the  person  Mr.  Mono 
married!     Perhaps  you  will  kindly  explain? ': 

For  the  moment  I  was  in  a  fix,  but  I  saw 
that  the  moment  had  arrived  for  perfect  can- 
dour, and  accordingly  I  told  her  the  facts 
pretty  much  as  they  have  been  set  down  here. 

She  could  hardly  blame  me  for  having  be- 
haved precisely  as  she  herself  had  done,  or  re- 
fuse to  admit  that  by  taking  any  other  course 
I  should  have  imperilled  our  joint  happiness, 
and  yet  I  thought  I  could  see  that,  with  fem- 
inine unreason,  she  was  just  a  little  disap- 
pointed with  me. 

The  true  explanation  of  that  marriage,  if 


A   Matrimonial   Experience  115 

it  was  a  marriage,  in  the  den  of  lions,  I  have 
never  been  able  to  discover,  nor  for  that  matter 
have  I  been  particularly  curious  to  inquire 
whether  Onion  attempted  to  get  rid  of  me  in 
order  to  secure  Lurana;  whether  Mile.  Leonie 
played  upon  Lurana's  fears  with  the  hope  of 
becoming  my  bride,  or  his;  or  whether  the 
Lion  King  and  his  fellow  artist  gallantly  sacri- 
ficed themselves  to  get  the  management  out  of 
a  difficulty,  I  don't  know,  and,  as  I  say,  I 
haven't  cared  to  ask. 

But  however  it  was,  they  were  ably  sec- 
onded by  old  Polkinghorne,  who  was  naturally 
unwilling  to  be  called  upon  to  refund  the 
money  he  had  got  for  his  free  tickets,  and  by 
Miss  Kakestraw  and  Archibald  Chuck,  whose 
reputations  were  also  more  or  less  concerned. 

Nevertheless,  although  every  effort  was 
made  to  keep  the  public  off  the  scent,  and  the 
circus  people  behaved,  I  am  bound  to  say,  with 
commendable  discretion,  sundry  garbled  ver- 
sions of  the  facts  did  get  about,  and  altogether 

Lurana  and  I  have  found  the  task  of  denying 
16 


1 1 6  Love  among  the  Lions 

or  correcting  them  such  a  constant  nuisance 
that  I  have  felt  compelled,  as  I  said  at  starting, 
to  furnish,  once  for  all,  a  statement  of  what 
actually  occurred. 

Now  that  it  is  written  I  have  no  more  to 
add,  except  to  append  a  cutting  from  an  an- 
nouncement which  appeared  not  long  ago  in 
the  principal  papers.     The  arrangements  for 
its  publication  were  entrusted  to  Archibald 
Chuck,  who  I  think  must  have  added  the  last 
two  words  on  his  own  responsibility. 
BlenMnsop — De  Castro. — On  the  15th  inst., 
at   the   Parish    Church    of   St.    Mary, 
Islington,  by  the  Rev.   Merton  Sand- 
ford,  D.D.,  Vicar,  Theodore  Pidgley 
Blenkinsop,  of  Highbury,  to  Lurana 
Carmen  de  Castro,  only  daughter  of 
the  late  Manuel  Guzman  de  Castro,  for- 
merly Deputy  Sub- Assistant  Inspector 
of  Spanish  Liquorice  to  the  Government 
Manufactory  at  Madrid.     iSTo  lions. 

THE    END. 


D.  APPLETON    AND    COMPANY'S    PUBLICATIONS. 

By  A.   CONAN   DOYLE. 
Uniform  edition,     umo.     Cloth,  $1.50  per  volume. 

A  DUET,    WITH  AN  OCCASIONAL   CHORUS. 

■*■  Dr.  Doyle  shows  a  new  phase  of  his  fine  talent  in  this  book. 
As  a  story  of  wedded  love  it  has  an  idyllic  character  which  will 
appeal  to  every  reader  not  devoid  of  healthy  sentiment.  As  an 
adroit  interpretation  of  a  true  philosophy  of  wedded  life  the  story 
contains  illustrations  and  pithy  sayings  which  will  enlist  the  in- 
terest of  women  and  men  alike.  As  a  story  pure  and  simple,  the 
play  of  motives,  contrast  of  characters,  unexpected  incidents,  de- 
lightful humor,  and  sustained  interest  will  be  certain  to  increase 
the  large  company  of  the  author's  friends.  Probably  American 
readers  will  feel  a  stronger  interest  than  their  English  cousins  in 
the  vivid  glimpses  which  the  author  contrives  to  introduce  of  his- 
toric scenes  in  Westminster  Abbey,  of  St.  Olaf's  Church,  the 
burial-place  of  Pepys,  and  of  the  home  of  Thomas  Carlyle. 

T  TNCLE   BERN  A  C.     A  Romance  of  the  Empire. 

^-^  "  Simple,  clear,  and  well  defined.  .  .  .  Spirited  in  movement  ajl 
the  way  through.  ...  A  fine  example  of  clear  analytical  force." — Boston 
Herald. 

"THE  EXPLOITS    OF  BRIGADIER   GERARD. 

A  Romance  of  the  Life  of  a  Typical  Napoleonic  Soldier. 

"  Good,  stirring  tales  are  they.  .  .  .  Remind  one  of  those  adventures  in- 
dulged in  by  '  The  Three  Musketeers'  .  .  .  Written  with  a  dash  and  swing 
that  here  and  there  carry  one  away."  —  New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

ODNEY   STONE. 

A  notable  and  very  brilliant  work  of  genius." — London  Speaker. 

"  Dr.  Doyle's  novel  is  crowded  with  an  amazing  amount  of  incident 
and  excitement.  .  .  .  He  does  not  write  history,  but  shows  us  the  human 
side  of  his  great  men,  living  and  moving  in  an  atmosphere  charged  with  the 
spirit  of  the  hard  living,  hard-fighting  Anglo-Saxon." — New  York  Critic. 

DOUND    THE   RED    LAMP. 

Being  Facts  and  Fancies  of  Medical  Life. 

"A  strikingly  realistic  and  decidedly  original  contribution  to  modem 
literature." — Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

rpiIE   STARK   MUNRO   LETTERS. 

■*■  Being  a  Series  of  Twelve  Letters  written  by  Stark  Munro, 
M.  B.,  to  his  friend  and  former  fellow-student,  Herbert  Swan- 
borough,  of  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  during  the  years  1S81-1884. 

"  Cullingworth,  ...  a  much  more  interesting  creation  than  Sherlock 
Holmes,  and  I  pray  Dr.  Doyle  to  give  us  more  of  him."—  Richard  It  Gal- 
lienne,  in  the  London  Star. 


R 


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D.  APPLETON    AND    COMPANY'S    PUBLICATIONS. 

GILBERT   PARKER'S    BEST   BOOKS. 
Uniform  Edition. 

HTHE    SEATS    OF    THE    MIGHTY.      Being    the 

Memoirs  of  Captain  Robert  Moray,  Sometime  an  Officer 

in  the   Virginia  Regiment,   and   afterwards  of  Amherst's 

Regiment.     Illustrated,  $1.50. 

"  Another  historical  romance   of  the  vividness  and  intensity  of '  The 

Seats  of  the  Mighty  '  has  never  come  from  the  pen  of  an  American.     Mr. 

Parker's  latest  work  may  without  hesitation  be  set  down  as  the  best  he  has 

done.      From  the  first  chapter  to  the  last  word  interest  in  the  book  never 

wanes;  one  finds  it  difficult  to  interrupt  the  narrative  with  breathing  space. 

It  whirls  with  exciiement  and  strange  adventure.  .  .  .  All  of  the  scenes  do 

homage  to  the  genius  of  Mr.  Parker,  and  make  '  The  Seats  of  the  Mighty  ' 

one  of  the  books  of  the  year." — Chicago  Record. 

"  Mr.  Gilbert  Parker  is  to  be  congratulated  on  the  excellence  of  his 
latest  story,  '  The  Seats  of  the  Mighty,'  and  his  readers  are  to  be  congratu- 
lated on  the  direction  which  his  talents  have  taken  therein.  ...  It  is  so 
good  that  we  do  not  stop  to  think  of  its  literature,  and  the  personality  of 
Doltaire  is  a  masterpiece  of  creative  art." — New  York  Mail  and  Express, 

HTHE    TRAIL    OF    THE    SWORD.     A  Novel. 
1       $1.25. 

"  Mr.  Parker  here  adds  to  a  reputation  already  wide,  and  anew  demon- 
strates his  power  of  pictorial  portrayal  and  of  strong  dramatic  situation  and 
climax. " — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

"  The  tale  holds  the  reader's  interest  from  first  to  last,  for  it  is  full  of  fire 
and  spirit,  abounding  in  incident,  and  marked  by  good  character  draw- 
ing."— Pittsburg  Times. 

H^HE    TRESPASSER.     $1.25. 

"  Interest,  pith,  force,  and  charm — Mr.  Parker's  new  story  possesses 
all  these  qualities.  .  .  .  Almost  bare  of  synthetical  decoration,  his  para- 
graphs are  stirring  because  they  are  real.  We  read  at  times— as  we  have 
read  the  great  masters  of  romance — breathlessly." — The  Critic. 

"  Gilbert  Parker  writes  a  strong  novel,  but  thus  far  this  is  his  master- 
piece. .   .  .  It  is  one  of  the  great  novels  of  the  year." — Boston  Advertiser. 

"T^HE  TRANSLATION  OF  A   SAVAGE.     $1.25. 

"A  book  which  no  one  will  be  satisfied  to  put  down  until  the  end 
has  been  matter  of  certainty  and  assurance." — The  Nation. 

"A  story  of  remarkable  interest,  originality,  and  ingenuity  of  con- 
struction."— Boston  Home  Journal. 


M: 


RS.  FALCHION.     $1.25. 


"A  well-knit  story,  told  in  an  exceedingly  interesting  way,  and  hold- 
ing the  reader's  attention  to  the  end." 


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NOVELS   BY   MAARTEN    MAARTENS. 
Each,   i2mo,  cloth,  $r.5o. 
TJER   MEMOR  Y.     With  Photogravure  Portrait. 

After  Maarten  Maartens's  long  silence  this  new  example  of  his  fine 
literary  art  will  be  received  with  peculiar  interest.  He  offers  in  this  book  a 
singularly  delicate  and  sympathetic  study  of  character. 

"  Maarten  Maartens  took  us  all  by  storm  some  time  ago  with  his  fine 
story  christened  'God's  Fool.'  He  established  himself  at  once  in  our  affec- 
tions as  a  unique  creature  who  had  something  to  say  and  knew  how  to  say 
it  in  the  most  fascinating  way.  He  is  a  serious  story  writer,  who  sprang 
into  prominence  when  he  first  put  his  pen  to  paper,  and  who  has  ever  since 
kept  his  work  up  to  the  standard  of  excellence  which  he  raised  in  the  be- 
ginning."— New  York  Herald. 

J^HE    GREATER    GLORY.     A  Story  of  High  Life. 

"Until  the  Appletons  discovered  the  merits  of  Maarten  Maartens, 
the  foremost  of  Dutch  novelists,  it  is  doubtful  if  many  American  readers 
knew  that  there  were  Dutch  novelists.  His  '  God's  Fool '  and  '  Joost  Ave- 
lingh'  made  for  him  an  American  reputation.  To  our  mind  this  work  is 
his  best.  .  .  .  He  is  a  master  of  epigram,  an  artist  in  description,  a  prophet 
in  insight." — Boston  Advertiser. 

"  It  would  take  several  columns  to  give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  superb 
way  in  which  the  Dutch  novelist  has  developed  his  theme  and  wrought 
out  one  of  the  most  impressive  stories  of  the  period.  ...  It  belongs  to  the 
small  class  of  novels  which  one  can  not  afford  to  neglect."— San  Francisco 
Chronicle. 

(^OD'S  FOOL. 

"Throughout  there  is  an   epigrammatic  force  which  would  make 

palatable  a  less  interesting  story  of  human  lives  or  one  less  deftly  told." 

London  Saturday  Review. 

"A  remarkable  work." — New  York  Times. 

"Maarten  Maartens  has  secured  a  firm  footing  in  the  eddies  of  current 
literature.  .  .  .  Pathos  deepens  into  tragedy  in  the  thrilling  story  of '  God's 
Fool.'  " — Philadelphia  Ledger. 

"Its  preface  alone  stamps  the  author  as  one  of  the  leading  English 
novelists  of  to-day." — Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 


J' 


A  story  of  remaricable  interest  and  point."—  New  York  Observer. 
00 ST  A  VE LING II. 


'  Aside  from  the  masterly  handling  of  the  principal  characters  and 
general  interest  in  the  story,  the  series  of  pictures  of  Dutch  life  give  the 
book  a  charm  peculiarly  its  own." — New  York  Herald. 

"  Can  be  heartily  recommended,  both  from  a  moral  and  artistic  stand- 
point."— New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

_  "  So  unmistakably  good  as  to  induce  the  hope  that  an  acquaintance 
with  the  Dutch  literature  of  fiction  may  soon  become  more  general  among 
us." — London  Morning  Post. 


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NOVELS    BY    HALL    CAINE. 
Uniform  edition.    Each,  ismo,  cloth. 
qTHE   CHRISTIAN.     $1.50. 

-^         "Though  the  theme  is  old,  Mr.  Caine   has  worked   it  up  with  a 
passion   and   power   that   make   it   new   again.  .  .  .  Can   not  fail  to 
thrill  even  the  most  careless  reader." — New  York  Herald. 

"  None  who  read  it  will  gainsay  its  power  and  effectiveness." — New 
York  Times. 

"  A  book  of  wonderful  power  and  force." — Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"  The  public  is  hardly  prepared  for  so  remarkable  a  performance  as  '  The 
Christian.'  .  .  A  permanent  addition  to  English  literature.  .  .  .  Above 
and  beyond  any  popularity  that  is  merely  temporary."— Bos/on  Herald. 

rpHE  MANXMAN.     $1.50. 

"  Mr.  Caine  has  written  well  and  nobly." — Boston  Herald. 
"  Hall  Caine  has  the  art  of  being  human  and  humane,  and  his  characters 
have   the  strength   of  elemental   things.     In 'The  Manxman' he  handles 
large  human  questions— the  questions  of  lawful  and  lawless  love." — New 
1  'ork  Commercial  A  dvertiser. 

'"The  Manxman'  is  more  than  a  good  story;  it  is  a  great  novel." — 
Philadelphia  Press. 

'TKHE  DEEMSTER.     $1.50. 

J.         (New  copyright  edition,  revised  by  the  atithor.) 

"  Hall  Caine  has  already  given  us  some  very  strong  and  fine  work,  and 
'The  Deemster'  is  a  story  of  unusual  power.  .  .  .  Certain  passages  and 
chapters  have  an  intensely  dramatic  grasp,  and  hold  the  fascinated  reader 
with  a  force  rarely  excited  nowadays  in  literature." — The  Critic. 

rpHE  BONDMAN.     $1,50. 

J-        (New  copyright  edition,  revised  by  the  author.) 

"  A  story  of  Iceland  and  Icelanders  at  an  early  era.  Our  author  throws 
a  charm  about  the  homes  and  people  he  describes  which  will  win  the  interest 
and  care  of  every  reader.  Their  simple  lives,  and  legends  which  shaped 
and  directed  them,  take  the  reader  clear  away  from  the  sensational  and  fever- 
ish and  unhealthy  romance  and  give  the  mind  a  rest." — Chicago  Inter-  Ocean. 

pHE  SCAPEGOAT.     $1.50. 

J-        (New  copyright  edition,  revised  by  the  author.') 


c 


APT'N  DAVY'S  HONEYMOON.     $1.00. 


"  It  is  pleasant  to  meet  the  author  of '  The  Deemster'  in  a  brightly 
humorous  little  story  like  this.   ...   It  shows  the.  same  observation  of 
Manx  character,  and  much  of  the  same  artistic  skill."— Philadelphia  Times. 

rpiIE   LITTLE  MANX  NATION.     $1.00. 

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TWO   SUCCESSFUL   AMERICAN   NOVELS. 

AT1TUDE  /g°.  A  Romance  of  the  West  Indies  in 
the  Year  of  our  Lord  1820.  Being  a  faithful  account  and 
true,  of  the  painful  adventures  of  the  Skipper,  the  Bo's'n, 
the  Smith,  the  Mate,  and  Cynthia.  By  Mrs.  Schuyler 
Crowninshield.    Illustrated.     i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  'Latitude  190  '  is  a  novel  of  incident,  of  the  open  air,  of  the  sea,  the 
shore,  the  mountain  eyrie,  and  of  breathing,  living  entities,  who  deal  with 
Nature  at  first  hand.  .  .  .  The  adventures  described  are  peculiarly  novel 
and  interesting.  .  .  .  Packed  with  incidents,  infused  with  humor  and  wit, 
and  faithful  to  the  types  introduced,  this  book  will  surely  appeal  to  the  large 
audience  already  won,  and  beget  new  friends  among  those  who  believe  in 
fiction  that  is  healthy  without  being  maudlin,  and  is  strong  without  losing 
the  truth." — New  York  Herald. 

"  A  story  filled  with  rapid  and  exciting  action  from  the  first  page  to  the 
last.  A  fecundity  of  invention  that  never  lags,  and  a  judiciously  used  vein 
of  humor." — The  Critic. 

"  A  volume  of  deep,  undeniable  charm.  A  unique  book  from  a  fresh, 
sure,  vigorous  pen." — Boston  Journal. 

"  Adventurous  and  romantic  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  reader. 
.  .  .  Abounds  in  situations  which  make  the  blood  run  cold,  and  yet,  full  of 
surprises  as  it  is,  one  is  continually  amazed  by  the  plausibility  of  the  main 
incidents  of  the  narrative.  .  .  .  A  very  successful  effort  to  portray  the  sort  of 
adventures  that  might  have  taken  place  in  the  West  Indies  seventy-five  or 
eighty  years  ago.  .  .  .  Very  entertaining  with  its  dry  humor." — Boston 
Herald. 

A    HERALD   OF    THE    WEST.     An  American  Story 
-^*~     of  1811-1815.     By  J.  A.  Altsheler,  author  of  "  A  Soldier 
of    Manhattan"   and    "The   Sun   of    Saratoga."      i2tno. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  'A  Herald  of  the  West'  is  a  romance  of  our  history  which  has  not 
been  surpassed  in  dramatic  force,  vivid  coloring,  and  historical  interest. 
...  In  these  days  when  the  flush  of  war  has  only  just  passed,  the  book 
ought  to  find  thousands  of  readers,  for  it  teaches  patriotism  without  intoler- 
ance, and  it  shows,  what  the  war  with  Spain  has  demonstrated  anew,  the 
power  of  the  American  people  when  they  are  deeply  roused  by  some  great 
wrong." — San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

"  In  a  style  that  is  strong  and  broad,  the  author  of  this  timely  novel 
takes  up  a  nascent  period  of  our  national  history  and  founds  upon  it  a  story 
of  absorbing  interest."— Philadelphia  Item. 

"  Mr.  Altsheler  has  given  us  an  accurate  as  well  as  picturesque  portrayal 
of  the  social  and  political  conditions  which  prevailed  in  the  republic  in  the 
era  made  famous  by  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain." — Brooklyn  Eagle. 


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D 


"A    BOOK    THAT    WILL    LIVE." 

A  VI D    HA  RUM.      A  Story  of  American  Life.      By 
Edward  Noyes  Westcott.     i2mo.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  Mr.  Westcott  has  done  for  central  New  York  what  Mr.  Cable,  Mr. 
Page,  and  Mr.  Harris  have  done  for  different  parts  of  the  South,  and  what 
Miss  Jewett  and  Miss  Wilkins  are  doing  for  New  Lngland,  and  Mr.  Hamlin 
Garland  for  the  West.  .  .  .  David  Harum  is  a  masterly  delineation  of  an 
American  type.  .  .  .  Here  is  life,  with  all  its  joys  and  sorrows.  .  .  .  David 
Harum  lives  in  these  pages  as  he  will  live  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  .  .  . 
He  deserves  to  be  known  by  all  good  Americans;  he  is  one  of  them  in 
boundless  energy,  in  large-heartedness,  in  shrewdness,  and  in  humor." — 
The  Critic. 

"  Thoroughly  a  pure,  original,  and  fresh  American  type.  David  Harum 
is  a  character  whose  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  eccentricities,  and  dry 
humor  will  win  for  his  creator  notable  distinction.  Buoyancy,  life,  and 
cheerfulness  are  dominant  notes.  In  its  vividness  and  force  the  story  is  a 
strong,  fresh  picture  of  American  life.  Original  and  true,  it  is  worth  the 
same  distinction  which  is  accorded  the  genre  pictures  of  peculiar  types  and 
places  sketched  by  Mr.  George  W.  Cable,  Mr.  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  Mr. 
Thomas  Nelson  Page,  Miss  Wilkins,  Miss  Jewett,  Mr.  Garland,  Miss 
French,  Miss  Murfree,  Mr.  Gilbert  Parker,  Mr.  Owen  Wister,  and  Bret 
Harte.  ...  A  pretty  love  story  also  adds  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  book, 
that  will  be  appreciated  at  once  by  every  one  who  enjoys  real  humor, 
strong  character,  true  pictures  of  life^and  work  that  is  '  racy  of  the  soil.'  " — 
Boston  Herald. 

"  Mr.  Westcott  has  created  a  new  and  interesting  type.  .  .  .  The  char- 
acter sketching  and  building,  so  far  as  David  Harum  is  concerned,  is  well- 
nigh  perfect.  The  book  is  wonderfully  bright,  readable,  and  graphic." — 
New  York  Times. 

"  We  give  Edward  Noyes  Westcott  his  true  place  in  American  letters — 
placing  him  as  a  humorist  next  to  Mark  Twain,  as  a  master  of  dialect  above 
Lowell,  as  a  descriptive  writer  equal  to  Bret  Harte,  and,  on  the  whole,  as  a 
novelist  on  a  par  with  the  best  of  those  who  live  and  have  their  being  in  the 
heart  of  hearts  of  Amreican  readers.  If  the  author  is  dead— lamentable 
fact— his  book  will  live."—  Philadelphia  Item. 

"  True,  strong,  and  thoroughly  alive,  with  a  humor  like  that  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  a  nature  as  sweet  at  the  core.  The  spirit  of  the  book  is  genial 
and  wholesome,  and  the  love  story  is  in  keeping  with  it.  .  .  .The  book  adds 
one  more  to  the  interesting  list  of  native  fiction  destined  to  live,  portraying 
certain  localities  and  types  of  American  life  and  manners." — Boston  Liter- 
ary World. 

"  The  quaint  character  of  '  David  Harum '  proves  to  be  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  amusement."  —  Chicago  Evening  Post. 

"  Merits  the  heartiest  and  most  unequivocal  praise.  .  .  .  It  is  a  pleasure 
to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  this  strong  and  most  original  novel,  a  novel 
that  is  a  decided  and  most  enduring  addition  to  American  literature."— 
Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 


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